Buy Me Healthy
by Altiria-Aty
Summary: Good and bad karma is essential to everyone who wants a soul-mate. Points gained and lost through karma is the only way to get the hints needed to find them. Holly has more points than she knows what to do with. While Nami, she has been unable to keep any of hers; and when she gets that disastrous warning 'spend points to save your soul-mate's life' Nami has none to spend.
1. Chapter 1

Five points for assiting an elderly woman cross the street and helping her with her bags; fifty points for going out of your way to help a lost or injured animal; one point for getting up on time. Seven a day for eating proper meals; five for treating yourself well; ten for genuinely complimenting a stranger. Ten for standing up for what you believe in, twenty for standing up for the freedoms of someone else, fifty for doing so if it's not directly related to you. Thirty points for every person you show you love. Fifteen for cheering someone up just when they needed it. A few hundred thousand for saving the world, one thousand for saving a life.

There were points for everything and anything. Additions and negatives depending on what you were doing and the reasoning behind it. People called it karma. Actions considered 'good' gave you points, and 'bad' ones took them away. The world was built on it, at least for those who cared at all about their soul-mates at all.

That perfect person, the other half of your soul. It was for their benefit alone that you could use the collected points you earned or lost. With them you could help your soul-mate heal from an lethal injury, you could get hints and tips to find them. With enough, you could save them from death and teleport right to their side. The karma system allowed a person to do all this, it gave them access to a little menu would let them know what their soul-mate might need or want.

There were those that didn't bother or care about points, those that didn't bother giving their other half a second thought. Those that stole, raped, murdered. Pirates, villains, the bad guys. The people that even if they had points, wouldn't use them to save their other halves if the chance came about, yet would take full advantage if their soul-mate saved and helped them instead. Nami liked to think she wasn't one of those people.

As a little girl Nami had tried to do her best for her soul-mate because, as Nami quickly learned, her soul-mate seemed to be a little accident prone.

Nami, with or without points, used to look at her options every single day, and every single day she was presented healing options. A bruise, a broken arm, hunger, thirst, a head-injury or worse. And when Nami told Nojiko and Bellemere about this, they got strange faces which she didn't understand. Bellemere suggested that Nami do her best to save points so she could heal her soul-mate, which Nami already planned on doing thank you very much.

And that was what she did. Nami earned her points, she healed her soul-mate and then would beam up a storm when her soul-mate returned the favor. Though Nami never had enough for any hints, Bellemere told Nami not to worry about those until she was older, because then she could actually figure out what they meant. Nojiko meanwhile didn't listen to Bellemere when she said that and bought a hint the momet she had enough one which said 'black hair' which wasn't very useful Nami reasoned.

Bellemere Nami knew once told them she'd earned a thousand points each for saving Nami and Nojiko, and another thousand for taking them in as their mother. But when asked Bellemere said she was 'saving' and would spend the points when Nami and Nojiko were grown up.

But Bellemere never did get to spend those points.

Nami still remembered staring at her mother laid out along the ground and praying to all the gods that Bellemere's soul mate had enough points to save her. But Bellemere never got up.

After that, well, Nami didn't get a lot of points anymore. After all, good deeds earned points, and Nami was not doing anything good around Arlong. Instead, Nami lost points almost continuously for the stealing she was doing. Deep down she hoped buying her town and saving her village would help her earn back what she was losing, but she wasn't very sure it was a 'good' thing considering where she'd gotten the money.

And Nami continued to lose points when she stole, when she made her maps, and when she looked the other way when Arlong killed another person. She often cried herself to sleep as her fingers bled, and her total points were steadily sent into the negatives. As she checked on her soul-mate and saw injury, after injury, after injury and there was nothing she could do. And Nami thought, she didn't deserve a soul-mate, someone as bad as her. Someone who was working with pirates. But it seemed, Nami's soul-mate did not agree.

Curled in her ratted bed, surrounded by bloodied maps, Nami felt her fingers warm. Before her eyes her fingers healed, the skin repairing itself as it always did. As every bruise, bump, and bloodied gash healed only moments after she gained them without fail. Like the broken arm caused by a furious man after she'd stolen his wallet. Like the large gash she'd earned from the thug she'd mistakenly run into months before. Like the webbed bruises Arlong constantly plagued her with. It all healed, always.

Nami's soul-mate was generous with points even if Nami didn't deserve it.

* * *

Holly hadn't always known what the points meant because her aunt and uncle had never explained, no doubt hoping she'd spend what she earned incorrectly. Which of course she 'wouldn't' because Holly was a freak and freaks didn't earn points as they later told her.

She was aware that was quite plainly, bullshit.

Ever since Holly could remember she had points; though it wasn't until she was eleven that she discovered why. After all, as the savior of the magical world, Holly had managed to save the entire magical nation and thousands of lives by accident. The circumstances that led to the thousands upon thousands of points was a complicated cluster and nonsense she'd later piece together. But as a child, all Holly knew was that she had the points in the first place. Of course, as a child, she also didn't understand what they were. So Holly didn't use them until she was almost eight and her teacher did a lesson on them.

The points as she'd learned, were for her soul-mate. They were used to heal, to save, to find, her better half. To locate and help the one person Holly was destined to love, who would love her in return because they were perfect for each other. Considering Holly didn't have a real family and no one actually loved her, well Holly was endlessly intrigued by the idea of a soul-mate. So right away she posed her question to her teacher.

The options she had for her soul-mate was to heal them, bruises, scratches, broken bones, bloodied gashes; everyday things she thought from her own experience. That she understood, Holly just had to buy the option, and then her soul-mate would heal - and oh how it made sense now, her wounds had healed because of the person who loved her. That all clicked for her, it was something else entirely that Holly didn't understand.

"How come the options cost so little?" Holly asked with her too small hand in the air.

"Too little?"

"Yes." Holly proudly proclaimed because she knew her maths. Her total was at the bottom, and it had a lot of zeroes, and the things she could buy cost her between a hundred and ten points. This she explained to her teacher and was given detention for causing a ruckus. After all, it was impossible for an eight-year-old to have anything north of a hundred points or so, let alone the hefty number Holly claimed to have.

Little did she know, as Holly was thrown into her cupboard for causing trouble, her aunt and uncle exchanged a knowing paranoid look. Because as little as they wanted to know it, they knew very well that Holly had saved countless lives and her point total would reflect that.

Holly, with a lack of explanation, reasoned she'd somehow cheated the system, she'd used her freakishness on it and had gotten too many points. And while she thought to return them, Holly didn't know how, which ironically that thought gained her ten more points. Eventually, Holly figured she was just supposed to use them. So checking all through-out the day Holly bought the options available to her. Fixing all the numerous wounds her soul-mate suffered without fail and purchasing the many hints handy to her. She'd earned ones like 'orange hair,' 'cartographer' - which she'd looked up, 'oranges,' and most confusing of all, 'East Blue,' which royally confused Holly for years.

Then Holly turned eleven and learned the truth of why she had so many points. And as she discovered shortly after that, she would never really be hurting for points… ever.

Especially when Holly quite accidentally gained another thousand points by Halloween of her first year in Hogwarts. Sure she'd lost a few for fighting with Malfoy and thinking relatively dark thoughts about Snape. But on that first Halloween, she and Ron had rushed off to save Hermione Granger from a troll. Not that they expected the troll to be there at the time.

Snape had been convinced Holly and Ron had been needlessly looking for points by going after a troll; and then had been confident in the belief Hermione had been doing the same thing when she lied about going after it by herself. Holly denied the accusation firmly telling him to his face she had no need to 'troll' for points considering how many she had. Another thousand was just extra to her.

But to Ron… well.

"A thousand! Wow." Ron gaped at his total as they returned to the common room together, "I've never seen so much, this is… what do I even spend it on?!" he glanced at Holly and Hermione for help. Holly shrugged, she had never had to pick and choose so she wasn't sure. While Hermione gave a thoughtful hum.

"Well, I've always made a list of what's important and what I can buy later. After all, bumps and bruises heal quickly, so it's better to save for large injuries if they occur. While the better hints cost more, which is better to save for, considering the small hints are so minor and vague." And off she went explaining, Ron to his credit, listened intently to what she was saying and even took notes. It was amusing to Holly considering how Ron and Hermione had been acting hours previous.

Absently Holly opened her point page and bought a few healing options that had appeared over the last few hours, one of which included a stab wound. Honestly, what was her soul-mate doing!? They were more reckless than Holly herself, and she'd just stuck her wand up a troll's nose.

Months later, Hermione joined Ron in debating over what options to buy after they saved the philosophers stone. Holly, who had faced Voldemort directly had earned the most for the adventure. But Ron, who sacrificed himself and Hermione who had saved Ron by getting help, had both received a significant amount. The two eagerly debated over their hints and options. Ron had caved and bought a small tip for 'magic,' and Hermione was saving hers.

"We're going to earn quite a few points with you aren't we Holly?" Hermione mused scrolling through her list.

"I expect so." Especially considering Voldemort was alive and would no doubt be targeting both Holly and the magical world again.

"I suppose I won't mind that much, as long as we put our schooling first."

Ron and Holly gave Hermione a deadpanned look.

Together they said: "Sure 'Mione, sure." Because _honestly._


	2. Chapter 2

_'Sometimes I worry about them, they get injured so often, it's really concerning.'_ Holly admitted to Tom Riddle

Seeing a flash in the corner of her eyes Holly set aside her quill and hurried to open her menu. It wasn't the first time she'd gained an emergency warning from her soul-mate and probably wouldn't be the last considering how often her mate got hurt. And after checking Holly discovered it was a suffocation option again, coupled with water damage to the lungs, again. Holly selected both without complaint and paid the system to ensure her soul-mate was fine. But even as she did Holly worried why her soul-mate was so often getting hurt because of water. Could they swim? Holly couldn't, but if they were near water so often she'd probably need to learn. Actually, maybe she should take some time to do so soon. She'd ask Hermione later.

She closed the option when she didn't get any other option and tapped her quill to the diary, Holly asked: 'did your soul-mate ever have problems like that Tom?' before realizing she probably shouldn't ask, that sort of question was incredibly personal according to Hermione. Holly rushed to apologize until she saw Tom writing back to her.

_'No, my soul-mate never had such issues. Though I suspect my relationship with them was reversed in comparison to yours.'_

Holly made a face not quite understanding, then it clicked. It meant Tom had been the one getting hurt.

_'But didn't they help you?'_ Holly always did, without fail.

_'No, no, they did not.'_

Holly felt a rush of empathy for Tom. His soul-mate could probably not afford the options to help heal him, she knew that was a common problem for most people. Holly understood, she'd spent nearly all her childhood being hurt in some way, and she eventually realized her soul-mate helped only when they could. Still, even Holly had occasionally doubted that her soul-mate had even wanted her. With her aunt whispering such harsh words in her ears, saying that freaks didn't deserve soul-mates. Holly couldn't help but doubt. That was until she woke without bruises, until she watched small bloodied cuts heal up far too quickly to be natural. And she'd known she was still loved.

_'They're out there Tom, I'm sure.'_ She tried to comfort him, but even as she wrote it, she heard Hermione calling and rushed to tell him a quick goodbye. They had to go to dinner, and Holly had to ask Hermione about swimming lessons. So she never did get to hear what Tom would have said to that; which was probably for the best Holly later realized as she stood face to face with the man who killed her parents.

Though she couldn't help but wonder who Tom's soul-mate was, and would again wonder much later, if Dumbledore wasn't incorrect in saying that those born from love-potions, honestly didn't have one.

Regardless, Holly was a thousand points down for killing the basilisk because committing murder was always a negative. But was meanwhile several thousand points up for saving Ginny and the school from the basilisk and Voldemort's shade. The number just added to her grand total, and while Ron celebrated the amount he'd gained from assisting, Holly could not feel good about it.

She'd saved the school and Ginny yes, but really… she hadn't done it for selfless reasons. She just didn't want the school to close and had just gotten the points because it was considered a good thing. Which perhaps, meant she had a little more in common with Tom Riddle than she'd liked to admit.

* * *

Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three times though? That was a pattern, and Nami could adapt to that. Nami's soul-mate was prone to injuring themselves, she'd always known it. But for the last three years exactly, the pattern of their injuries had changed - Nami might have been obsessing over watching her points page but what else was she supposed to do while sailing? Regardless, her soul mate had spent their childhood constantly gaining serious wounds that Nami now understood were a sign of abuse. Then, suddenly, three years ago, that pattern changed. No longer did Nami see 'starvation,' 'broken arm,' or the constant bruises across her menu. Instead, her soul mate seemed… healthy except for some extraordinary options that went away within a night.

Nami would never get over the 'missing bone: replace?' option she'd seen the year prior.

Outside that Nami's soul-mate seemed to gain her worst injuries at the start of summer till the beginning of fall. With the worst being the very start of summer in the April-June time frame. Nami was good at math, and once she figured that bit out, Nami realized to best help her soul-mate, she'd simply need to get out of the negatives and back into the positives for April.

It wasn't difficult to convince Arlong to release her for March to April or if she was lucky June. In exchange for doing 'survey' research, Nami wandered the oceans for those months. She was expected to return and draw plenty of maps of the areas, but she agreed because then she was free for three months to do what she wished.

At first, well, Nami spent the whole time stealing. She ran around taking anything she could get her hands on from the rich or the less dangerous pirates. She did this to buy her village, and she knew it would take years, but she'd do it eventually. Unfortunately, Nami quickly discovered that regardless of her good intentions for the village, stealing was still stealing, and her actions resulted in negatives.

But Nami was good at math - when it came to money and points.

Nami realized quickly that if she spent all of March doing as many good deeds as she could, she could escape her negatives enough to buy one or two options for her soul-mate. Which was especially useful for her soul-mate who was always injured around April. Honestly, deathly snake bites, rope burns, 'magical exhaustion' - and didn't she have questions about that option, and more. After she'd bought something to help her soul-mate, Nami then rushed through as much stealing as she could for her village.

Nami learned several things as she did this. Firstly, good deeds were harder to find than doing bad ones. Stealing was easy, especially when Nami never had to worry about her injuries - ever. Nami would take stab wounds without pause, she'd rip apart her hands, run till her feet bled, she'd starve and never sleep as she worked for those few months. But she never had to worry about any of that for more than a few minutes. Nami's soul-mate took care of her - and Nami so often wondered how good her soul-mate was that they could afford everything that happened to her so quickly. So no, Nami never had issues with her stealing and was building up quite the pain resistance as time progressed. The problem was always earning enough points to cover her negatives and the hefty amount her soul-mates injuries cost.

Nami, when earning points, thrived on the small things, wandering from island to island and offering a kind word or action. She helped people cross streets, offered quickly drawn maps to those who were lost. She complimented freely, offered up food or water and on the rare case, she helped find a lost pet or child. Once she'd gotten incredibly lucky when she'd sensed a dangerous storm and had been heading to port when she'd happened upon a clueless cruise-liner. She'd warned the captain about the squall, and she'd gained an enormous amount of points for her aid. Of course, she'd promptly spent it all, because her soul-mate had apparently almost lost her soul!

Nothing could describe her fear when Nami saw that particular option.

Amazingly though, after that, Nami saw nothing but a few common bruises from her soul-mate for the rest of that summer. And found she could finally relax.

At least for the summer.

It would be the start of the next year and on that Nami really had to worry about.

* * *

Standing side by side with her godfather for the very first time, after realizing he was innocent, Holly found she had a few dozen questions to ask him. So throwing on a mask of confidence, she turned to the adult who should be able to finally give her an answer, and spoke.

"Sirius! I have questions… a-about soul-mates."

"Soul-mates?" he glanced at her uncertain, "in what way? Oh… oh no… did anyone explain it to you?" Sirius turned bright red, "the… uh… the pleasure tab?" he couldn't look at her as Holly likewise turned red because no that was not what she was asking, but Sirius plowed on.

"Alright, okay, I wasn't prepared for this today. No, it's fine. So, the tab is one of the secondary options on the menu that shows up after both sides of a mated pair hit puberty. Not to be mistaken for the benefit's tab that appears after you meet for the first time."

"Sirius that's not-"

"-now, it doesn't cost much, but you should definitely try to make sure they're not in a public location when you start selecting options. So first you do what your dad used to call the 'nudge' the cheapest option on the tab, and if you get a nudge back, then you're good and you can start for real. So next you-"

"SIRIUS!" Holly yelped, "we learned about that in health class already!"

"Oh? Oh, thank Merlin," he exhaled in relief, "so what's your question then pup?"

"I just wanted to know about my parents, were they…?"

"Soul-mates?" Sirius gave her a fond look, "they were. James had a habit of buying all the small hints as soon as he could. So when his first said 'red hair' he targeted Lily and wouldn't leave her alone. Especially when every small hint after added more detail that always matched her." Sirius gave a laugh, "Lily was the opposite, she saved her points constantly and didn't buy a single hint until we were in our last year and she got 'Potter.'. You should have seen her face! Best day of his life James said… till they had you that was."

Holly beamed at her godfather as Remus exited the tunnel with the rest of their group. They'd fallen behind, no doubt to give Holly and Sirius some time to bond after all these years.

"What about your soul mate?" she wondered.

"That… that's a bit more complicated." Sirius ranked a hand in his hair, "I used to buy a lot of small hints when I was younger, but it didn't really get me anywhere. So I started to save, I got a lot of points during the war. Saving people you know?" he sighed, "I bought my first big hint shortly after you were born and it said uh… 'another world' and… well, then I was sent to Azkaban so…" he looked away toward the sky. With a voice that was dangerously choked, Sirius whispered: "points go stale there, no gains or negatives… it's part of the punishment. And while I was there, I got the warning… to save their life. And I didn't have the points." Sirius could still remember how much he'd screamed that day. His voice joining the countless others as he begged and pleaded and screamed to be released. Just for a few points, only a few, he had to save them- he had to! They'd always taken care of him. They'd kept him sane, they'd kept him healthy in Azkaban, they'd saved him time and time again. And yet, there was nothing he could do in return.

Holly felt her heart seize in sorrow for her godfather. It was no wonder he'd been so furious with Pettigrew, his soul-mate had died, and he'd been forced to feel it, to see that warning and be completely unable to help. "Oh Sirius… I'm so sorry."

"It's… it's what it is," Sirius forced a smile, "what about you then pup? You buy any hints yet? I bet you're just like your dad-"

"Holly, Sirius!" they paused and glanced back just in time to see Hermione throw a pointed hand at the parting clouds and the full moon appearing from behind them.

* * *

"It's official," Hermione announced on the train heading home after their third year at Hogwarts. "I have enough for a big hint." Hermione had gained enough by helping save Sirius and Buckbeak, two lives saved in one night had pushed her far over the amount she needed. It also allowed her to keep enough after the big hint for emergency 'save life' options.

"I do too," Ron reported patting the owl Sirius had bought for him to replace the rat. Across from him, Holly gave a humming confirmation even though she always had enough.

"Shall we do it together then?" Hermione asked scooting forward to look at them, "one big hint for all of us? Agreed?"

"Sure."

"Alright."

The sat in a loose circle. Holly locked the door to the compartment to ensure Malfoy didn't come running to mess with them. While Hermione and Ron moved their things around to give them space. It was almost ceremonial as they all opened their menu's at once and scrolled for an option.

Then after nodding to each other; they clicked yes.

"Oh." Holly breathed as she stared at the words before her. There, right on her menu, were the same words Sirius had spoken a week prior.

_'Another world.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Dragon Fire burns, grindylow Bite, near drowning, acromantula venom, curse scar, torture curse- trapped, chained down, sacrificed, strangled- _'help?-' 'help?-' 'help?-'_

Nami held her head, rocked her body and whimpered in the dark. She gripped her head so tightly that her nails were digging in to the skin- and she released her head with a strangled sound when the wounds healed instantly. "I don't deserve that- I don't- don't fix it! Please don't fix me anymore!" she begged, ripping her hands from her head and trying not to injure herself further.

Her soul-mate, her precious person, the one person who was supposed to love her, the one good thing about her and Nami hadn't been able to do a thing to help them. Not through the dragon burns in November, the creature bites and drowning in February, and the chaos in April that Nami couldn't have afforded even if she'd had months to prepare for it.

Nami's only hope had been that after April the options she'd been getting would calm down, she was wrong. Now she was getting a 'nightmare: wake up?' warning nightly, as well as more notification's of bruises and worse yet, mental prods that cost so much more than physical options. For psychological trauma was more difficult to heal than any bodily injury, and it seemed to be continually plaguing her soul-mate now.

She couldn't afford it. Nami didn't have the points for even the physical wounds, she didn't get enough during March to recover from the rest of the year let alone to afford to buy anything. Worse yet, her theft during the latter parts of her free time was stalling out because of how hard she was focusing on her soul-mate. Which meant she'd never be free and she'd never save her village.

Nami realized the truth, she had to pick. She had to choose between her freedom and village or her soul-mate who always had, without fail, helped her even when Nami couldn't return the favor.

And Nami had no idea what she was supposed to do. All she knew was that eventually, her soul mate would realize the truth about her, and they wouldn't be able to accept it. Not with how good they were to afford so much for her. And if Nami stopped helping them like she knew she'd have to, to save her village. Then perhaps they'd stop supporting Nami, perhaps they'd stop caring about her, and she couldn't even blame them for it.

She didn't deserve their help.

* * *

"Your hint said 'another world' didn't it Sirius?" Holly asked in Grimmauld place as she finally found a moment with Sirius alone. Which she'd seen was incredibly difficult with the Order all over the place. Not to mention Hermione and Ron both knew she was drowning in stress, among other things, and they were both being a bit overprotective, especially after her brief explosive freak-out when she'd arrived.

Thankfully Ron had been dragged off to help the twins clean, and Hermione was debating soul-mate hints with Ginny.

"It did," he confirmed, "why?"

"Mine sort of… said the same thing, did you ever…" she trailed off. It was a question plaguing her for the last year, something she hadn't wanted to ask Sirius in a letter because she knew what fate befell his soul-mate. She hadn't wanted to upset him with her questions, but in person, Holly found she couldn't hold her tongue anymore. She was much too curious.

"Figure out how to reach them? Have enough points to go to their world?" he ruffled her hair, "let show you something, and don't tell the shrew lady, she'd never let it go." Holly gave him a quick nod as Sirius dramatically glanced around them, then with a wink he took her hand and carted her up to the library. Once inside he did another dramatic glance around to Holly's amusement, before he reached up and placed his hand on one of the shelves. She watched as the shelf opened up, revealing a secret room and gave a gasp. He grinned eagerly at her, pleased to finally have some real one-on-one time with her, something he'd wanted ever since he'd been locked up.

True Holly wasn't a baby, and he'd never get to gush about her firsts with James and Lily. Nor would he ever drop her off to Hogwarts for the first time, or see her excitement when she got her first wand, or even see her Hogwarts letter. But Sirius could still have a few moments with her, he could still spend time with her now, and that mattered to him. Sirius would take every second he could get with his kid.

"The perks of being a Black are limited, this is the only one other than the gold, this part of the library only opens with someone with Black blood," he smirked, "which includes you, I blood adopted you when you were three months old, behind Lily's back of course. Ah… that includes Arthur's kids as well." He added as an offhand comment as if he hadn't stumped her with the knowledge that blood adoptions were possible and apparently Sirius was considered her blood father and not just her godfather.

"The Weasley's!? No wait hold on, you blood adopted me?! I need more details on that Sirius!"

"Didn't you know?" Sirius answered, utterly skipping over the blood adoption, "Arthur's mother was a Black, so they all have Black blood."

"That's not- Sirius!-"

"-Anyway, back when I was younger, Regulus and I used to sneak into here. It's where the good books were-" he reached out pulled a book revealing a hidden box behind some old looking books, then opened it with a wink, to show some naughty magazines. Holly rolled her eyes skyward temporarily distacted, even though her eyes strayed slightly at the female forms across the front pages… another sign that maybe she wasn't into guys like the other girls in her year.

The previous years' ball had been a challenge for Holly who had wanted to ask Cho Chang or Fleur to the ball instead of Cedric or Krum. Holly would never forget the bite mark she'd put in her lip as she attempted to keep in her seat when she'd seen Fleur for the first time, like most of the male population which excluded Seamus and Dean - that was a fairly large sign to where their eyes really strayed and where hers did. Thankfully Holly was distantly sure Hermione hadn't noticed her reaction since she'd been focused on Ron making a fool of himself. Regardless Holly didn't need that concern on top of everything else happening in her life. She knew how muggles reacted to that sort of thing, and she had no idea if Sirius or her friends would accept her for it- or if her soul-mate was even female like Holly was beginning to suspect.

"Back a few hundred years, one of the Black's had a soul-mate from another world who had enough points to travel to ours, they wrote all about that world in their journals." Sirius shuffled through the books until he found one, "might not be the same world as… either of ours, but maybe you'll learn something."

Holly accepted the book and hesitated for her next question, the one plaguing her all through her fourth year. "If I… if I decided to leave, and to go to them…" she could afford it, she could afford it right that moment if she really wanted to. The awareness of the option waiting for her had been the first thing on her mind a week previous when Holly'd thought she'd been expelled. Holly's very first thought at that moment had not been despair at being expelled, but relief and hope that she'd be able to meet her soul-mate for real. She'd been about to press the option when the next letter arrived and stopped her.

"What would I do?" Sirius wondered tilting his head to look Holly in the eye, "I'd probably try to follow you. I'd spent all my time figuring out how to do it, then I'd crash in on your life one day and have your kids call me uncle Padfoot. I'd dote on them like crazy; they'd be so spoiled it would be ridiculous. And you'd try to kick me out of your house, but I'd refuse to go, and I'd sneak back in as a dog." He smiled a bit wistfully, "would be nice, I think. No more war, no more of this house, we could just live…" Sirius sobered up as he recalled not for the first time that while Holly had the option to escape to her soul-mate, his was gone. "you do what you have to Holly. If you can escape this war, if you need to… then do it. Our generation should have ended it before it fell onto your shoulders. And ideally, this war would have never involved you guys. I'd end it right now if I could, so you kids can stay kids." He sighed and glanced at the secret room they were in and… debated as a thought entered his head.

The Order had stopped him from saying anything before. Dumbledore, Remus, Molly, they all wanted him to keep his mouth shut. But secrets is what had them think Remus was guilty. Secrets were what got James and Lily killed; Sirius wouldn't let it kill Holly.

Filled with caution, Sirius flicked his wand at the door adding to the secrecy charms. He didn't know if any spying spells had been placed on them and the spell would prevent that magic from passing information while it surrounded them. It was one of the few charms he knew intimately after years working of pranking, in fact, all the marauders knew it like the back of their hands.

"There's something I need to tell you," he confessed, "about what you-know-who wants… and what we're protecting. But you need to promise me that you will not tell anyone about it, including Hermione and Ron. The Order, no, Dumbledore doesn't want you to know about this Holly, and I don't know what they will do if they find out you know the truth."

"Sirius… I won't tell." She'd already been burning in anger about it, about the obvious lies spoken just out of her line of hearing. Secrets that directly involved her. Secrets Molly kept stopping Sirius from confessing. She had gotten the feeling that Molly specifically had been trying to keep her and Sirius from being alone, especially out of sight of everyone else. Which made asking the personal question she wanted to ask a challenge, until then.

Holly stared at her godfather in shock, and then horror as he confessed the real reason her parents had gone into hiding all those years ago. Forced her to realize she could never flee the war to her soul-mate even if she wanted to. Because as terrible as it was, Holly would not doom the entire magical world to Voldemort's reign for her own happiness. She could not allow herself to go to her soul-mate until the prophecy that even Sirius didn't know the full words of, was fulfilled.


	4. Chapter 4

Holly pressed her nails painfully into her palms, watched the white of her knuckles and the accursed blood quill scar change color; then she released her grip a moment before she drew blood.

Nearby was a ticking clock, tic-tic-ticking away. Hermione's quill tapped her parchment, then the feather entered her mouth as she gnawed at the end. A chess piece hit the table as Ron attempted to play a game by himself, but couldn't keep the concentration for a proper match. As it was, not one of them was really focusing on anything in that room.

Holly could easily call this her worst year yet. She'd been plagued by annoying and noticeable dreams sent to her by Voldemort all year. Most of them featured the door in the department of mysteries, the same door that held the prophecy she wasn't allowed to know the full words of. The others involved meetings with his Death Eaters and the rare one involving Nagini and Mister Weasley.

She still didn't understand what the bloody hell the Order was thinking protecting the damn prophecy with civilians. They really ought to have destroyed it and left a trap for the man who would eventually have to go get the orb himself instead of putting civilians in front of it to guard it against Voldemort. It was a damned miracle no one had died yet Holly reasoned, and that was entirely because of her accidentally reading Nagini's memories; which considering the prophecy and her connection to Voldemort, was very suspicious.

Regardless when Holly had been yanked into a vision of Sirius' capture in that stupid prophecy room during her History exam - which she was now going to fail - Holly had assumed quickly that it had been a fake and had checked just in case. She'd done the smart thing, she'd used the mirror Sirius had given her for her birthday to contact him.

It was hardly been the first time she'd done so over the year; actually, Holly had been calling Sirius with it every week to discuss the journal he'd given her, which had been an exciting read. It had been about a kunoichi, a female ninja, that had left her war torn home country to come to Earth. She'd described the difficulty of learning the customs, the language, and the technology of her new world. She'd also expressed her building relationship between herself and the man that had kept her alive through countless battles and the difficult process it had been to get the Black's to accept it. Apparently, it had helped that she had something called 'chakra' which the Black's had considered a fascinating type of magic to bring into the family, even if it hadn't been passed to her children.

Regardless, Sirius had been just fine but alarmed at the information she was giving him. He'd then passed it to the Order and Dumbledore who had been hiding out at Grimmauld place. He'd snuck her into that meeting through the mirror stuffed in his shirt pocket; Holly, Ron, and Hermione had listened in as they planned to intercept the death eaters likely waiting to trap her. Tonks would be acting as 'Holly,' and the rest would accompany her.

Since then, Holly, Hermione, and Ron had been sitting in the common room waiting for news. Holly could admit that she was panicking internally. Her godfather, the man who had blood adopted her, her dad, was fighting death eaters that very moment and there was nothing she could do to help.

It seemed she was either too young, too important, or too weak to do anything. Holly was kept ignorant and in the dark, and if not for Sirius she probably would have gone running to the ministry out of sheer curiosity alone. Holly hated it, hated it as she thought of her soul-mate who was always fighting and doing, while she sat on her ass while Voldemort was out there killing people.

"I can't just sit here!" Ron yelled suddenly, he was the first to crack among them; a large portion of his family had gone to the battle.

"You'll have to," Hermione commented suddenly reaching up into the air and hitting something invisible to them, an option for her soulmate no doubt. "We can't apparate so we can't join the battle, we would have had to leave hours ago by broom if we wanted to go."

"What about the floo?"

"Guarded by Umbridge," She made a face, "I cannot believe that woman is still here."

What if her father died? What if Sirius didn't come back to her? What if she lost the one person who actually understood her, who loved her unconditionally. Holly hadn't even told him she liked girls yet, she'd been too scared, and now he could be dead.

"Ugh, the toad! Honestly, if she's here again next year, I'm transferring. When is that curse going to kick in?"

She'd just tell him when he got back… no, she couldn't just blurt it out! She'd have to plan something-

"Ah!" Holly doubled over as her head screamed in pain. Crying out, she grabbed at the scar and whimpered.

Holly didn't notice when Ron knocked over the table in a rush to reach her, or when he tripped over Hermione doing the same, causing them to hit the ground in a tangle of limbs. She was too focused at her scar ripping open causing blood to pour over her face and hands as a vision hit her-

She was in Voldemort's head, in his eyes as he stood face to face with Dumbledore. She twisted her wand in the air causing the glass of the windows nearby to shatter and hurl toward that fool old man. Fire twisted as she transformed pure magic into a draconic beast that blew fire. Water twisted up, encircling her mortal enemy and was furious when he escaped instead of drowned. Ancient magic was at her fingertips following her every command. She was power, she was a god of magic, she was-

Sirius entered her vision, spell to spell he fought Bellatrix near a veil of death that whispered at her, called to her- back and forth they went- a red light struck Sirius, and he teetered toward the curtain-

Holly split from Voldemort as terror burst through her heart. Voldemort's red eyes flashed green, his wand lifted pointed away from Dumbledore who stopped dead in horror seeing the color change. A spell slammed into Sirius' side sending him careening away from the veil and toward Remus. They smacked together rolling across the ground as Voldemort wrenched back his control and turning it on her.

Then all Holly felt was agony.

* * *

_'Help me, help me, please help me! it hurts- the pain-'_

Nami patted down the dirt in the tangerine field and sat back on her heels. She was getting there, she was so very close to buying her town and finally freeing the people. Soon she would be free of Arlong, and she'd be able to make her own maps, explore the world, and maybe- just maybe, she'd find her soulmate, if her soulmate lived that long.

Her latest trip had been the best haul yet. Abandoning her habit of doing good deeds for a month she'd had an extra thirty days to steal, and it showed in gold, and emotions

Nojiko could tell at a single look that Nami was suffering because of her choice. She'd tried to encourage her sister to stop, to find another way, but Nami was deaf to her pleas and deaf to her soulmate. She had a single-minded focus and had convinced herself that the freedom of the village would fix everything. Nojiko didn't have the heart to tell her that the likelihood of Nami's deal succeeding was nonexistent. No pirate would honor such a deal even if Nami earned all the money in the world.

"Nami!" She glanced to the side to see Nojiko waving from the house and took a deep breath.

"Coming!" Nami called with forced happiness. Nami pushed herself up, taking one look at the treasure she'd sacrificed her soulmate for and grimaced. She'd stopped looking at her options, stopped looking to see what her soulmate was suffering. Nami had stopped looking at her points entirely.

It was for the best she told herself.

Her soulmate was better off anyway.

_'Please, please- hel-help-Help?HELPHELPHELP.'_

* * *

"So I bought another big hint," Hermione whispered, "it said 'another world' so I suppose we match now. Of course, there could be countless different 'worlds' out there, and there's no telling if our soulmates are in the same one or not. But I can hope, I suppose."

Sirius' tail thumped against Holly's bed as his tongue lolled out and Holly huffed a breath. "Small world-s." She muttered as she pulled on her shoes. Holly stood and moved with Hermione toward the door leaving the room, and Sirius hopped off the bed to follow her. His paws padded along behind them as they soundlessly left the dorms.

Following the reveal of Voldemort's return, an overhaul had overtaken the ministry and the school. Umbridge had been soundly kicked to the curb and Dumbledore had been reinstalled to Headmaster. Holly had at the time been in a coma and had been for most of the summer following the possession incident. She'd managed to take over Voldemort's mind long enough to save Sirius, and in return, he'd taken over her. Hermione and Ron had narrowly managed to prevent her from hurting anyone when Ron bodily tackled her and knocked her unconscious with a chair.

During the summer while she'd been in a coma Sirius had been ordered to remain in Grimmauld Place once more because he'd only narrowly escaped arrest for the second time. This time however he'd exploded on Dumbledore and the Order, Sirius had refused to listen, screamed into the Order's faces and parked his canine butt beside Holly. He declared for all to hear that he wouldn't be pulled from his daughter's side, which continued even after she woke up.

Holly regained consciousness in August, and Sirius had kept his words acting to the world as her pet who happened to sleep outside the girls' dorm guarding it against intruders. The girls in Holly and Hermione's year had, in fact, been alerted to his presence and identity, but none of them had complained as long as he was out of the dorm when they were sleeping, dressing, or otherwise. The acceptance was likely due to the building war and the fact that Sirius was a trained Auror ready to defend them all at a moments notice. It also helped he had bitten a Ravenclaw's leg when the boy tried to push Parvati out of her comfort zone.

As of her awakening, Holly hadn't needed to go to the Dursley's due to the timing and was taking occlumency lessons twice a week with Snape to prevent Voldemort from taking her over again, by his insistence oddly enough. She knew his offering to keep up her training had much to do with what he'd learned about her childhood, which neither of them was talking about.

Holly still didn't know the words of the prophecy, it had been destroyed by Dumbledore during the chaos of the battle and Dumbledore wasn't telling anyone the real words, especially not Holly who had been possessed so severely. Holly was still furious about this which was violently upsetting her relationship with the man who had basically ordered her attendance for private lessons that year. Holly personally hadn't gone to one yet and didn't intend to. He wasn't going to give her any useful information or training, she'd realized that long ago. Instead, she focused on her occlumency and her training with Sirius which they did every night.

Sirius, unlike Dumbledore, clearly wanted her prepared for the inevitable battle, so they spent every morning and night dueling. Sirius was teaching her as much magic as he could as quickly as he could. This was coupled with Tonks being the new defense professor, so Holly was getting in a lot of progress. Even if Dumbledore kept demanding her presence for nonsense reasons. She ignored him until he could treat the threat to her life seriously.

"Didn't Ron get the same one?" Holly asked as she and Hermione headed down the hallways. Holly toward the room of requirements and Hermione toward the library to research the odd connection between Holly and Voldemort.

"He did."

"A hell of a coincidence," Holly said as Sirius barked beside her in agreement. "Do you… do you have enough to go to them?"

Hermione looked forward as her eyes slipped downcast: "after everything… I do, but I can't go now. There's too much that I have to do."

"You could, you could leave the war and just… just leave."

Hermione shook her head: "I already know what I'm going to do. I, I have to say goodbye to my parents and pack for all kinds of different environments. Currency, languages, customs, everything will be different in another world. I need a way to pay for food and water, shelter and maps with a new currency-"

"How are you going to do that?" Holly asked.

"Oh, it's simple." Hermione stopped in the hallway and tapped her wand to her hand, in the middle of her palm a glittering piece of gold appeared: "depending on the common resources I can use a spell to temporarily create that currency to buy things. Naturally, it doesn't last more than a day, which is all kinds of illegal, but needs must as they say."

"… teach me," Holly demanded, and Hermione gave a laugh.

Hermione promised to do so as she continued to explain she would see the end of the war before she left as well. She absolutely refused to abandon Holly to fight Voldemort alone, that was unthinkable to her.

"Only after the war… after everything is done, then I'll start planning to leave… all three of us will I suppose." Hermione didn't want to think about that day yet. She was excited to meet her soulmate, but she'd be losing her home, family, and her best and truest friends. It was undoubtedly thought of with mixed emotions.

Holly agreed softly, her eyes sliding to Sirius just as he turned down the hallway heading to the room of requirements. Holly bid her goodbye to Hermione and turned off, catching up to Sirius who was already pacing in front of the door to open the room itself. Together they entered a dueling room, similar to what Aurors trained with she knew, and Sirius transformed.

He didn't comment on their talk, didn't give her the false hope that she'd end up in the same world as Hermione and Ron both. It was highly unlikely. Nor did Sirius say anything about her eventually leaving him as well, if she survived that was. Instead, he started to show her exactly how to use a Patronus message which had been something she'd been curious about for ages. He also explained if she used extra magic, she could make it take a recording as well, allowing someone who couldn't use a Patronus to respond to what she'd said.

"Wicked." Holly breathed as she practiced it.

As the sun rose outside the castle, as Holly got the spell down steadily, her mind started to wander to her soulmate again. About the woman, she had to be, Holly… she hadn't done anything with a woman yet, but she was sure. Her soulmate was not a boy. And she eventually had to tell Sirius about it.

Sirius and Holly swapped to a duel as they always did before she went to shower and head to classes. But her mind still wasn't in it, even if she could easily match Sirius thanks to her ridiculously powerful core.

Holly had a whole plan, had it plotted out down to the minute detail. She knew exactly what she'd say and when; she'd intended to bribe him a bit, and sit him down in a quiet moment with an obliviate at the tip of her wand just in case he- it wasn't like she'd didn't trust him- but, but what if he didn't accept it. That was always a possibility, and Holly knew people and families could be cruel.

But instead of going with that, she ended up blurting it out in the middle of a duel.

"My soulmate is a woman!"

She probably shouldn't have been casting when she did so because Sirius' shield faltered and he was thrown bodily into a wall. Not that it phased him for long.

"WHAT?!" he screamed, shooting to his feet. "You met her?! How come I haven't seen her!?" he looked around frantically as if Holly's soulmate would spawn out of nowhere and say 'hi.'

"No!" she gasped, "no, I haven't met her! No, I just- I well- I uh…"

Holly gripped her wand feeling nervousness enter her heart. She shouldn't have blurted it out, even if she'd been hoping Sirius would accept it. Dean and Seamus were an official couple now after they discovered they were soulmates and no one so much as blinked an eye at them. Holly had found then that wizards didn't care about gender or sexuality as long as the pure-blood family lines continued, which could be accomplished through a blood adoption if the matched pair were of the same gender. Sirius, being a Black and pure-blood, might agree or he might not, she didn't know.

But she kept thinking: Sirius was her only family, he was her blood adopted father, and in Circe's name she was terrified- why hadn't she just-

"I like girls," she choked out, "so my soulmate is a woman." She wanted to stare Sirius down, to be aware if he lunged, or if he turned as red as Vernon would- but at the same time, she couldn't look at him. Not him, she couldn't see that anger in him.

"Oh, got it." Sirius stood and brushed himself off, " I thought she'd traveled here. Well, alright, then. Let's continue."

Holly snapped her attention up, and Sirius was already slipping into his dueling stance. "But-" she blurted.

"But?" he asked, looking at her as if he couldn't fathom why she was wasting time, then the expression cleared: "Oh- oh yeah you were brought up muggle. Lils had the same problem, she was shocked when the first couple matched themselves, Alice set her straight back then. Listen pup, you don't have to worry about those muggle problems. I have absolutely no problem with you liking girls, good for you honestly, men are pigs." He rolled his eyes. "James would be thrilled; when you were born he was dreading this phase of your life, he wanted a proper rune encrusted pole to beat boys back." Sirius pitched his voice, "'she'll be stunning Padfoot' 'please let her like girls Padfoot,' 'what if someone like us is her soulmate Padfoot,' 'what do I do Padfoot?!'" Holly giggled a bit, and Sirius winked her way.

"You're fine pup, as long as that soulmate of yours makes you happy… and has a sense of humor, then I'll accept her. But nothing could make me stop loving you. Not who you love, not what you do, nothing. Like I said before if you want to abandon this war and live as a muggle, go for it. If you want to join the dark side I'll follow right after you. Suddenly decide to become a pirate to sail the seas, then I'll figure out how to sail."

Holly's eyes were burning, and Sirius stowed his wand. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her; his grip was firm and warm, comforting, and accepting in a way that made her crack. His were the hugs of a father, of acceptance from the very first moment Sirius had held her with shaking, freezing, Azkaban drained arms. He unmistakably, unconditionally loved her,

Holly gasped out a sob and clung to Sirius with as much strength as she could.

"Thank you." She desperately whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

After all these years, she had finally caved and spent the points for a selfish thing; a single hint. She'd spent the points she'd earned after painstaking work, after years of balancing every actions she was forced to take all to earn that one sign. Previously everything she'd bought had been for him, for that person with the occasional injuries that made her think he'd had a happy childhood and an exciting life. 'Throwing up slugs,' had been one of the more unique options and she'd assumed quickly he'd been attacked by some manner of slug producing devil fruit… the idea was disgusting she would admit, and she'd paid to cure it the second she could.

Thankfully, her soulmate did not have many options; beyond the common, incredibly odd, or the unique he seemed mentally and physically stable. So she never had to honestly worry about her points being low. And low they were, after all that she was forced to do, with how she was forced to act, she was continually balancing at the bare edge of the positive and that was only thanks to the secret charity work she slipped into her daily life.

Balanced as she was, she'd never been able to afford a hint; until she'd accidentally saved a life and suddenly did have enough.

Perhaps it was impulse, or the dark knowledge that maybe she deserved something good too; something better than leering eyes and strings wrapped around her heart. Or maybe it was because she'd forgotten her situation and was stuck fantasizing about that person, that one man that would be her perfect other half. Her soulmate, as they stood side by side and free.

It was a mistake.

She knew what she pretended to be, she knew her situation, and she knew what she had to do. She had thought deep down that every person man she played like the fool, everyone one that betrayed her or used her trying to get to him was not her own. She'd believed that her own couldn't do that to her, that he'd see past the mask and she'd seen kindness in his heart when she looked. She'd thought that, believed it, because she hadn't known anything about him.

Now though, now she had a hint. And she knew that because of her foolish choice, she would stare into the face of every red-head she saw from that moment on, and she'd hopelessly wonder; 'is it you?'

* * *

Ron did not regret breaking up with Lavender, even though he was a bit confused as to why it happened. Hermione and Holly refused to tell him, blushing and glancing away every time he brought it up. But Ron had the distinct feeling it had something to do with the… ahem, dreams he'd been having over the past few… months. Which, he sort of blamed on Lavender, after they'd agreed one night that there was a war on, and they only lived once, so… they went a bit farther than just snogging. Okay, that was partly his fault, and partly the twins for giving him those spelled books which happened to respond to what you liked best and…

And he was getting off the point!

The point was, he'd been stuck in what Sirius referred to the 'honeymoon phase;' which was not to be mistaken with the 'time of the month' for werewolves and... other people. Sirius was also the only one to blatantly tell him, it had been a traumatizing sight to behold, for the girls, and for Sirius himself. It had also been Sirius who confessed Ron had, after his poisoning, been loopy enough on pain potions, to go into great detail about his fantasy involving his dark-haired soulmate - who was certainly not Lavender who had blond ringlets.

Apparently, she'd been most angered because her soulmate happened to have red hair and magic, she'd assumed it was Ron who was her better half. The girls said that wasn't his fault, admittedly they'd never spoken about soulmates, and Lavender certainly hadn't mentioned anything before then. Regardless Ron felt the need to apologize if only for the embarrassment he'd caused her when he'd been drugged-

"Don't you dare!" Holly said palming a conjured gold coin in her hands, she had been flipping it through her fingers until he'd mentioned his intentions. She, like Hermione, was learning to conjure all types of substances in preparation for their 'move,' across worlds. They'd both been obsessed with it that year, a distraction from the war no doubt, which was one of the reasons Sirius didn't say anything about it. The 'golden trio' all had soulmates in another world just as Sirius once had, and while all three of them could travel at a moments notice to their other halves, Sirius could not. So while they prepared for the eventual move to escape thinking about the war, Sirius was forced to watch them plan to leave him and their world forever. But in the end, Sirius never said a thing about it. Instead, he would tuck his canine body into Holly's side, burrow his face into her lap, and appear to nap.

It was a complicated thing Ron knew, for Sirius wanted them to leave, he'd made no secret about that. He wanted all three of them to escape the war, to live out their lives free and happy. Sirius didn't want them anywhere near Voldemort as Dumbledore kept pushing for - considering his increasingly demanding letters for Holly to attend super-secret lessons with him, the worst of which had been the dozens which appeared that night that all of which she'd tossed into the fire without reading. But Sirius also didn't want to lose his only family either.

There was no winning in the situation for Sirius, so he kept his mouth shut and hoped for the option that would better suit the rest of them.

"'Don't you dare' what?" Ron asked Holly as she dropped the conjured coin on the table. Her spell was progressing, her conjured items no longer lasted seconds, but rather full hours before dispersing.

"Apologize," said Hermione from the side as she did the homework he probably should be working on - it wasn't like Holly was either!

"Why?"

Holly wiggled her fingers attempting to conjure another coin to raise the speed and volume of how many she could create and said: "It's not your fault, you were drugged Ron, and you never talked about the long term. That isn't just on you, it's on both of you."

Hermione hummed in agreement: "You should have communicated better at the time, now that the time is over; there is nothing you can do. Just leave it, move on as she no doubt will."

"I guess…" Ron made a face and glanced at Sirius who sleepily rolled onto his back, his tongue lolled out in feigned or perhaps real sleep. His paw twitched in his sleep, and Holly absently ruffled his ears.

"Listen to our superior knowledge." Holly proclaimed, giving him a playful smirk, "we know better. Besides, if you bring it up, its sort of like rubbing dirt into the wound. That and, well soon you might not need to worry about her at all."

"Which brings us back to the point," Hermione suddenly shut her book, "you need to work on your wandless magic!" Ron quickly groaned and slid deep into the couch in denial. He was doing just fine, thank you very much. He was surviving Tonks' lessons just fine.

"We're going to be living in completely different worlds. Ron, do you have any idea what that means?"

"That I can never see my family again?" he hissed under his breath. Oh yes, he understood Sirius well and was firmly avoiding thinking about it.

"That means if your wand breaks, there is no wizard shopping area to get a replacement. You'll be defenseless! You won't be able to conjure currency, water, or shelter! You can't fight or…" on and on she went, and Ron tuned Hermione out. He knew all that, he did, but unlike Holly and Hermione, Ron doubted if he should ever take that permanent option. Another world was… everyone was so confident that a soulmate would fix everything, that they would be worth everything. Ron wasn't so sure. That a woman could be worth giving up all his family, all his friends, everything he'd ever known. He'd be forced to start brand new, new friends, new environment, new people and Ron wasn't overly confident he could do it.

So while Hermione planned endlessly for a move she was confident she'd take, for a person she was confident the gods had chosen to suit her perfectly. While Holly looked for an escape to the pressure and grief this world of theirs had constantly given her. Ron didn't know if he could do it.

He looked away from Hermione just in time to see Holly suddenly frown and stare at her hand. Idly, as if it was the most exciting thing in the world, she turned it and flexed. Then she blinked, obviously so, and rubbed at the skin there, the skin where she'd been scared. It had unfortunately taken them a while to figure out what Umbridge had been doing to her, too long he knew, and Holly's hand had been permanently scarred as a result of his lack of attention.

"It's gone." She mumbled interrupting Hermione who had been 'regaling' them about a spell she'd discovered which allowed her to create an expandable tent, in theory.

Sirius' eye slid open, and he tilted his head to stare at her while Ron asked: "what's gone?"

"My scar from Umbridge." Sirius released a growl over the name at the same time Ron pushed from his seat and moved to drop beside her. He snatched hold of her hand as Hermione leaned forward, the pair of them inspecting the callused skin of Holly's hand. Sure enough, the scar was gone, vanished as if it had never existed. Ron turned her palm this way and that, he pressed at the skin where it had been, but she was correct… it was gone.

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" Hermione sat back as if this was boring news, "your soulmate paid to remove it."

"But she…" Holly stole back her hand and flexed it, "she hasn't bought anything for me in… merlin, ages." And oh would the boys of their world weep to hear her complete confidence in the word 'she' instead of he. Ron smirked picturing their expressions and pictured rubbing it in their faces.

"Well, that probably means she has had a change in her life," Hermione mused, "she ought to be similar in age to us after all, so perhaps she's grown up or escaped the situation she was in. Is she still giving you the same options?" They watched as Holly reached up and swiped at the air, then frowned.

"No actually, I don't have any options to heal her right now."

"There, see. This is good news, she's doing better."

"Oh." Holly continued to stare unsure what to do with that knowledge, then a slow smile made its way onto her face. Ron gave her a fond look; then sat back glancing at his own options, at his soulmate that had an odd collection of choices that had been hard to understand until he brought it up to his dad. Bruises in the shape of hands, pulled hair, and a collection of mental options he selected the second he saw them. The abuse she suffered was different than the more obvious way Holly's was, but it was no less painful. Arthur had treated him to a very long conversation about what was okay and what was not when it came to sex, and Ron committed it to heart.

"That's good then, that's… that's really good." Holly grinned at them- and a screaming alarm burst into life. The portraits in the common room all started to scream at once, and four elves popped straight into the room, hands up, and fingers glowing with magic.

"Hogwarts is under attack, Students, remain calm and get yourselves to safety!" The three of them froze, shocked, and stumped for a long moment. They had no idea how to react at that moment, because as much training as they had done, they hadn't really expected Hogwarts to actually be attacked. It wasn't named the safest place in the magical world for nothing. But while they seized up in inaction, Sirius, with his Auror training and previous war experience launched to his feet. His canine body twisted on a dime and he hopped off the couch, transforming mid-motion to take his full height. Quick as a whip he palmed his wand and stormed toward the common room door a moment before the elves could seal it.

"Wait." He ordered of them and threw it open to peer into the halls while the rest of the student body burst into delayed life. Several of the youngest students cried out in fear, others swapped between completely shoving away their fear or accepting it and moving on. For theirs was the house of the brave, and they had been training for this, so terrified or not… they acted.

Nearby Hermione snatched her DA ring from her necklace and ripped the chain off her neck so she could send a message, a call for information and an order to safety and defense. Hers was the first sent out as Holly and Ron's buzzed a moment later in response. Neither Ron nor Holly glanced at their coins yet, both trusting Hermione to fill them in. Ron instead straightened his spine and pointed to one of the few seventh years present in the common room and rushed out an order.

"Get a tally of who's here, we need to know which students are still wandering the castle." It wasn't yet curfew, so quite a few were unaccounted for and with the castle under attack they were all at risk. The upper years rushed to comply gathering the kids together and taking attendance instead of their head of house who could very well be in battle right then for all they knew.

At the same time that Ron did that Holly rushed to Sirius side and took position outside the common room doors. They stood side by side on either side of the fat-lady scanning he halls for the slightest movement. The paintings on the walls before them had fallen into an eerie hush, their message about being under attack passed and now they waited for more information, and little seemed to be had. Outside the paintings, the halls were filled with scattered kids rushing to safety. Students of all houses were dragged toward the Gryffindor common rooms by all ages of lions. Sirius and Holly did not stop them, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. They were all rushed into the safety of the common room and taken into their roll-call.

Straggling at the end of these students was Blaise Zambini with Astoria and Daphne Greengrass at his heels. The former held a familiar glittering coin and his wand up and at the ready, while the latter assured her younger sister at full speed toward safety. Holly did not stop them as Daphne all but bodily shoved her protesting sister into the lion's den. Blaise, on the other hand, stopped and joined her and Sirius at the doors and tucked his coin away.

"We were in the library," he explained quickly, "no sign of attack there, but when we were leaving, we heard something blow on the lower floors."

Sirius growled like the canine he could transform into, while Holly tensed up ears straining for any sign of what was attacking the school. While she did, she softly said: "we'll have no idea the numbers in Slytherin." Unfortunately for them all, the DA had not gained many Slytherin members, and of those Blaise and Daphne were in charge. Which meant they had no idea if it were the Death eater children attacking, or actual death eaters. "Still, I'm glad your safe."

Blaise shot her a flirtatious smirk which did nothing to her, but there was relief in his eyes. A relief that he hadn't been anywhere near Slytherin at the time. At that point he was basically a secret agent, spying on the death eater's children and his fellow snakes for betrayal with the coin he kept strictly confidential. And despite being prepared for an attack by the Auror at his side, Blaise had not truly wanted to be surrounded by potential enemies when a real attack was occurring.

Silence fell between them and true to Blaise's word in it they could hear the battle going on. The noises had Sirius shifting his stance, he was a breath away from ordering the doors closed and rushing into the unknown. Unwilling to allow people to fight for him or without him, especially with the small number of order members in the actual castle. But the moment he did, he felt Holly's long fingers sink into the back of his robes, she gripped tight and refused to release him. Sirius knew that if he dared leave, she would be a step behind and there would be a stunner with his name on it following up.

"It's death eaters," Hermione announced causing Holly and Blaise to glance back, but Sirius never once took his eyes off the halls. "They're in the castle… Neville saw them." She bit her lip, he's hiding with Hannah." Her eyes stared down the coin, and Holly felt hers heat up when Hermione's face lost all color. "Oh… oh no." She dove for the windows, sent two children into the ground in her haste, and toppled a chair. In an instant, she had the window thrown open as everyone stared at her waiting for what news she'd gotten.

Holly didn't wait for her to speak. She reached in her pocket and fished out the coin as she and Blaise bent their heads together and stared at the words there.

'Dumbledore is dead.'

* * *

He crashed into her life like a meteorite, almost literally. He fell from the sky like the gods had got annoyed and had to make their meeting as evident as possible so that they'd finally talk. Admittedly, that could be true considering they'd nearly met three times prior to that moment. Once, when she'd been no older than eleven and happened to stop in a little village called Foosha. The second time while stealing from a ship, and the third when she'd taken a unique little map from a corrupt marine. And now that it had finally happened, there was absolutely no getting rid of him.

The sky gifted her a teen in sandals, blue shorts, a red vest, and a hat that she'd later put her own life a risk to protect. A boy so wonderful, so amazing, that Nami couldn't have possibly fathomed his existence at the time. So trapped in the darkness as she was, she almost didn't recognize the light he offered. Didn't realize how starved she was for hope, something he offered so freely… there was no way she could ever resist him; no matter how much she tried.

Nami knew weather, she knew it like she knew how to breathe. Later, she would compare her soulmate to the lightning that marked her. Later she'd compare herself to the storm clouds surrounding her electricity and bringing a storm together. But now, she compared Monkey D. Luffy to the sun. Shining so brightly you couldn't see anything else, giving hope and joy, bringing life, and burning those that challenged him. Luffy was smiles, energy, kindness, and love, he was so good. Younger than her, unknowingly the same age as Nami's soulmate, and he carried the future on his shoulders. With his whims, the fates of nations changed. Clueless, a moron who couldn't sail, cook, heal, navigate, build, shoot, or use a sword. Yet a captain all the same.

Luffy dragged Nami into his life like a force of nature; and she was helpless, unable to resist him; and deep down, she didn't want to.

Carted along with the moron captain and even more moronic first mate, who thought getting stabbed on purpose was a perfectly fine pastime. Nami was forced into saving a whole island from a pirate dressed as a clown. She was dragged this way and that, and the one time she managed to escape them, they crashed right in front of her again. And somehow, someway, Nami managed to escape that single event in the positives of her point list. She hadn't been in the positive for three years by then; and yet, with one island, one meeting, she could afford to buy an option for her soulmate. A woman who never stopped healing her, who never hesitated to give Nami everything no matter how often Nami wished she would stop, to let Nami suffer from the deeds she had committed.

With Luffy and Zoro asleep Nami sat curled up in the larger ship staring at the collection of options she hadn't dared look at for years. At the bruises, the pains, the suffering she couldn't have fixed. Her soulmate suffered, and the universe was cruel enough to show her everything that happened that Nami could no longer select and fix.

"Possession." Nami felt like retching, like emptying her stomach at the coma her soulmate had been in while she'd been out-drinking pirates so she could steal from them without their knowledge. She gave a sardonic laugh: "how is she this good, no one is that…" she trailed off, eyes sliding toward Luffy who'd smiled so brightly after abandoning half her stolen money because he'd liked the mayor of that destroyed town. Then she brutally shook her head, nope, there was no way the pair were similar.

"You need to stop," she ordered her list as if her soulmate could hear her, "you're going to get yourself killed… try being a little selfish for once."

Her soulmate probably thought Nami hated her, never buying a single option despite how many were available. She probably suffered unaware that Nami did care, that she just couldn't- Nami swore and curled up tighter. She'd gotten over this, she'd made her choice. Nami had known what to do, and yet here she was again.

Nami shouldn't have looked, she should have just ignored what the universe had given her. Abandoned the idea that the options and points even existed. She'd be better off.

And yet.

Nami rubbed her burning eyes, felt her hands reach up after, and tap randomly on the page before her.

'Blood Quill Compulsion and Scar: Heal?'

She tapped the option and watched as it burst into light and vanished. Her point total dropped to next to nothing once more. But Nami had helped, she'd helped.

"I'm still here, I still… I care, I swear- I do- I-" Nami pressed her fist to her mouth to smother her cries. She didn't want to wake Zoro and Luffy, didn't want them to know how horrible of a person she was.

Minutes passed as her body heaved until she calmed down and something in her heart eased - her soulmate again Nami knew instantly - comforting her selflessly. And she uncurled her body staring up into the night sky.

One day, one day was all it had taken. A teen fell from the sky, and now she suddenly had something like hope. She didn't want it, didn't want it yanked from her like everything else. And yet… and yet deep down she believed that one day she'd finally meet them- she was so stupid. Believe she'd be free one day, that she'd meet that person who always healed her. Maybe… maybe it would be Luffy that would free her? He was different from other pirates, he saved a village instead of stealing it, who gave away treasure instead of taking it. Who defended the smallest of dogs and an old man just because.

No.

No, Arlong would destroy them, Luffy and Zoro would die, and Nami would be directly responsible. She'd never allow that to happen. She would not be responsible for their deaths. She was navigating, she'd just keep them as far from Arlong as possible and when… when her time ran out, she'd leave. It would be fine.

Shaking herself off, Nami leaned back and made herself comfortable, she rolled slightly and allowed herself to lightly nap. Eyes closed, she missed the moment when Luffy and Zoro's eyes opened to peer at her. As she drifted away, Zoro closed his own eyes and returned to sleep. He'd guessed why she had been upset and hiding it, he'd personally gained a massive amount of points as soon as he'd joined up with Luffy. He'd not actually been in the negative though like he suspected the Witch had been. Like he suspected Luffy never had been.

Luffy at the same time curled up his body and wedged himself into the ship, so he was comfortable. He didn't know about Nami's or Zoro's soulmates and didn't ask. All he cared about was making sure he asked their soulmates to join his crew if Nami and Zoro ever met them, just like he'd make his join. Personally, Luffy was rather excited to meet his soulmate who seemed to go on all kinds of exciting adventures considering the options Luffy was continually seeing.

After accidentally rescuing that marine town - he hadn't meant to, he'd just been saving Zoro - Luffy had wasted his points on getting rid of the scars plaguing his soulmate since he was really young. When he'd realized afterward that his soulmate might not want that! Luffy personally wanted to keep his own scars, the one on his cheek was a memory after all! So Luffy had nudged his soulmate with the 'special time' options that Ace had told him about. Asking if it was okay, and if it weren't Luffy would be sure to apologize as soon as he could. But his soulmate hadn't nudged back! Which meant he was probably mad - and certainly not busy as his soulmate actually was.

Oops?

Regardless, Luffy would be more careful about what he spent his sudden influx of points on - the number just kept going up now, - Luffy didn't even know what to do with it all. And he'd definitely have to find Nami and Zoro's soulmates to bring them into the crew. Which meant, he'd have a ten-person crew, plus their soulmates, so… uh… ten-twice.

Luffy grinned into his shirt.

This was going to be the best.

* * *

Dumbledore's death changed everything. As Holly, Hermione, Ron, and Sirius made camp in Grimmauld place, unfortunately trapping Sirius once again in a place he hated more than anything.

They were loosing. Voldemort in one fell swoop had the school, the ministry, and the world.

And every night Holly opened her points page and peered at the option she had available to her. An escape that so many others would never get. One single tap and she'd be whisked away, given a chance to start a new. To… abandon everything in the world she was born in. To leave the Order who waited and watched for her to do something, anything. To abandon the Weasley's, who backed her at every meeting. Abandon Sirius who hinted at every opportunity that she ought to do it.

He didn't want to lose her, he never did. But he'd lost hope in winning, in saving their world. And as her godfather, he wanted her alive, before anything else.

If she was honest, it was becoming harder to resist as she spent an entire two months trapped in Grimmauld place while more and more people died, as Voldemort hunted her down, ripping through their world without pause to kill her and only her.

Holly wished she'd never learned about the damned prophecy, wished it had never existed. She wished she could be a normal girl without the worlds fate on her shoulders. Holly wished people would stop looking at her like she would spontaneously save them, or that they'd stop glaring at her when she didn't. Merlin above, she wanted to be normal - free.

She escaped the latest order meeting, vanished from the seat Dumbledore used to fill as the leader of the group. She disappeared into the darkness of Grimmauld and hoped everyone would just leave. They wanted her to throw herself at Voldemort now, to challenge him publically because 'surely she'd win, she was the chosen one, wasn't she?'

Holly hid from Ron, Hermione, and Sirius for a moment. From Sirius' fear, Hermione's focus, and Ron's faith. She burrowed into a corner, brought her knees to her chest, and absently went through her points. Her soulmate didn't need her to heal her anymore, she was injured so rarely now. And… and that was a good thing.

Right?

The door opened, and Holly winced. Who had found her now?

Shoes hit the wood and strode right for her, somehow managing to locate her without a second of pause. Holly grimaced knowing it was probably Ron, Hermione, or Sirius then. They always knew exactly where she was despite her choosing different spots every time she hid. Yet it was none of them that leaned past the couch to peer at her; instead, it was an aged man that had been in the meeting. John Smith, he'd called himself. A stranger that was perfectly plain, eerily so.

"Holly Potter… we need to speak." Holly internally cursed already preparing for the utter nonsense this man was about to judge her with. The Order found it so easy to judge her again and again, putting everything on her shoulders while they did nothing.

"We really don't." She muttered mulishly from her corner as if it wasn't all that odd for her to be found there.

"Potter," Smith said again, giving her a look that was oddly… familiar in a way she couldn't yet place, "we need to speak." He lifted his wand, and Holly felt her jaw drop as the plainness slid away, leaving behind a face she knew unfortunately well.

"Professor… but you-" she cut off and frantically went for her wand despite once trusting him. The truth had become complicated after Severus Snape vanished when Death Eater's attacked the school. Some assumed Severus had been either given up in defense of the old man, had betrayed them, or that he'd gone with the Death Eater's to try damage control. When days later, after the ministries fall, the Death Eater's had bragged about the 'truth' Severus killed Dumbledore. Most believed it instantly, most turned their backs on him, cursed his name, and prepared to end him the moment they saw him. But Holly had not been of that number.

As much as she'd hated him, as much as she'd publically suspected him over the years. He had saved her life countless times, and he had trained her to use occlumency at risk to his own life. So when he appeared before her, Holly was torn. Moving to defend herself just in case - as he'd, Sirius, and Moody taught her, - but hesitation to do what so many others would and attack. It didn't help that she was trapped in the corner, and her range of motion was severally limited.

"Calm yourself Potter." Snape tucked away his own wand after ensuring the door he'd entered was completely locked down, and the room was secure, "While I commend your reaction time, as slow as it was. At least you attempted to defend yourself. Naturally, I could have killed you a thousand times already, which you ought to find… comforting."

"Professor." She made a face and yanked herself out of her corner, "yeah, thanks for not doing that. Can I get an explanation anyway?"

"How is your occlumency?"

"Wanna test it?" she taunted him knowing he'd done so a hundred times before and she had managed to perfect the art enough to keep him, and therefore, Voldemort out. She also knew Snape would, and did test her shields, he was a spy that might have killed Dumbledore, he wouldn't leave his fate and secrets in her hands without insurance. Holly held him back easily, even when he violently struck out at her shields.

Nodding in approval he took a seat, and Holly claimed one opposite him all but throwing herself into it. "So, did you do it?" was her first and immediate question.

"Yes."

Silence echoed between them, as Snape waited for her reaction, as she thought over that blatant confirmation. She would have asked if he was going to kill her too, but as he'd said, he could have already, and she was in no mood to have her intelligence insulted again for 'stupid questions.' "Why?"

"To ensure the dark lord trusted me, it helps that the headmaster requested i."

"Why?"

"Turning into a toddler Potter? Do try to articulate your questions."

"Okay." She scowled, "why did the old fool determined to win the war by keeping me blind as a bat, want you to off him?"

Snape sighed and slowly started to explain, explain how the headmaster had been dying anyway and had hoped that Severus, by killing him, could save Draco and ensure Snape was trusted by Voldemort for the last leg of the war. Holly nodded along and took it as assisted suicide, but knew she'd probably freak out over the whole story later. For now, she had more important questions to ask before someone discovered Snape was present and killed him before she had all the information she needed.

"So, your still a spy? For… me?"

"Indeed."

"Okay… so… what did you find out?"

Snape closed his eyes as if pained and Holly felt her stomach sink as he slowly sealed her fate. "The reason the headmaster was not in the castle that night is the very same reason he wanted your attention this year. The dark lord has created Horcruxes."

Holly sat there as Severus Snape told her what a Horcrux was, that the headmaster had forced an answer out of a man named Slughorn to discover Voldemort had seven soul fragments scattered around the world. That two were accounted for, one was a fake, and one… was Holly.

* * *

"Remove Horcrux? What the hell is a Horcrux?" Nami asked herself, staring at her options as she waited for the sun to rise over Syrup village. Zoro was napping nearby, Luffy was silently chasing a beetle, Usopp was audibly shaking. While Nami had finished her map of the few islands they'd visited already and decided to check her list out of sheer boredom. The option she found was brand new, and one of the most expensive things she had ever seen on her list. So she could not afford it, not even in her dreams.

Making a face, she dismissed it and bought a few smaller things instead.

It couldn't be that bad if she couldn't understand what it was.

"The sun is coming up," Zoro announced suddenly, and Nami rushed to stand.

It was time.

* * *

**AN: ****So, I accidentally destroyed the battery of my laptop, don't ask how, and the new battery just got delivered today so… new chapters yay! Let me tell you, I missed it, you guys comments and kudos get me through the week so thank you for everyone.**

**Now! Ron's hint in the first chapter has been changed on Ao3 to reflect his new soulmate but not FF, which basically just shifted the hint from 'magic' to 'dancer.' (thanks for the suggestions those that gave some!) While Hermione's is still open, I'm currently torn a bit between Sabo, Ace, or Coby who has been suggested a few times, or maybe even Vivi?… (dang, I really don't know! Lemme know your thoughts guys)**

**Also! Does anyone want to hedge a guess on who Ron's soulmate is? I'd love to hear if I was being totally obvious or not obvious enough.**


	6. Chapter 6

Holly's finger lingered in the air as her breath came in shallow puffs, her hands shook, and Holly gave a hiccuping gasp, trying to contain any noises from escaping. She could not stop the tears from sliding down her face as her finger moved forward. Whimpering, Holly wrenched her hand away and dug her fingernails into her palm as her arms dropped helplessly to her side. Left hanging in the air in front of her was that one option she was so desperate to take. The ticket out of this world, this situation, this war, and her fate. A one-way path directly to her soulmate, one tap, and she'd be gone where no one could follow her. And she couldn't do it.

"I don't want to die." Holly said as she grabbed her pillow and yanked it to her chest in a mock attempt at a hug, at some form of comfort. Curling up with her knees to her chest Holly's body heaved as she soundlessly broke down.

She didn't want to die, and despite fighting in a war where she was the centerpiece, where an authentic prophecy set her up as the savior, Holly hadn't actually imagined she'd die. Somehow despite everything in her childhood, she'd had some ridiculous faith that she'd make it through. That they'd win against Voldemort and Holly would survive it. Holly had believed she had a future, that one day she'd go to her soulmate and everything would be okay!

But she was a Horcrux. Her very life was a linchpin keeping Voldemort's tied to the earth. As long as she lived so too would he, even if she abandoned the world, she'd take the soul fragment with her and Voldemort would become effectively immortal until her own life came to an end. It was a truth that brought her to her knees, a blow leaving her breathless and unable to recover from it. Holly was a Horcrux, and had to die.

Holly would never meet her soulmate, she'd never grow old, she'd never get married, never travel the world. Holly would never get over her fear of having children and being a better mother than her aunt had ever managed. She'd never even grow older than her parents had been when they died; at this rate, she'd die several years before they had, and she'd accomplish far less than they had. Holly would leave Sirius without family again, Ron and Hermione without their friend - at least they'd have their-

Holly reached up and brushed a hand across her face as she sniffled pitifully. Hermione and Ron, they'd never let her do it, nor would Sirius. They'd fight the truth kicking and screaming until the last moment, and they might end up dead for it. Then two more people would be without their soulmates, and Ron and Hermione would never grow up either.

"I have to die." Holly forced the words from her lips. She had to die to protect the people she loved, to save the world she had been ready to abandon. She had to die so Sirius, Arthur, Molly, Professor Snape, Tonks, Remus, Ron, and Hermione and so many others could live. Holly cast her eyes to the option still hovering above her face and waved it away with regret. She prayed her soulmate would forgive her for this, but Holly knew that wasn't logical. The woman attached to her would never know the truth, she'd never understand what happened and what choice Holly had made.

And she had made it.

"I have to die."

Holly released her pillow and sat up grabbing for her journal, inside she quickly began to write her ideas and the truth of what Snape had told her. She'd be gone, but she needed to give Ron, Hermione, and Sirius their best chance to win after it had happened. So Holly wrote everything she could think of; then she summoned Dobby to her with a polite request.

"I need you to give this to Hermione and Ron… tomorrow, can you do that?"

Dobby was confused but willing. He swore to do precisely that, no doubt planning on counting down the exact seconds until 'tomorrow.' Holly left him to it, thanking Dobby for everything he'd done for her, and hugging him for perhaps a little too long as she realized she'd never see him again. Thankfully Dobby wasn't as good at human cue's, so he didn't know anything was wrong with her goodbye. Hermione and Ron would have noticed in a split second.

That done Holly left behind her cloak and everything that meant a thing to her, she left it for her three most treasured people knowing they'd treat her precious items with respect. All she took was the clothes on her back - Dudley's that now fit her decently - and her wand. Steadily she pulled her trainers on, then in the darkness of Grimmauld place, she descended the stairs.

Holly passed Sirius' room, she gave the door a respectful look aware Sirius always locked it tight before he went to sleep out of sheer habit. Grimmauld was the only place he locked himself in; Holly wasn't surprised, she'd have done the same if they were staying in Privet Drive instead. Hermione and Ron's rooms were a level down, Ron's door was likewise closed out of habit from having so many siblings, but Hermione's was cracked. Holly could see the slight light and knew Hermione was no doubt engrossed in a book, but she didn't stop to say goodbye. Hermione would try to stop her, they all would.

Swallowing Holly crept down the stairs used to moving without sound after all those years at the Dursley's. She passed Sirius' mother's picture covered by a curtain and shushed Kreacher with a firm order when he caught her awake. Finally, Holly opened the front door and stepped into the darkness outside. There she lingered a moment, glanced back at the house that held her loved ones with red eyes. Before she turned on her heel and apparated on the spot.

* * *

Something woke Nami, but she had no idea what it was, only that it was important. Rubbing her eyes, Nami swung her legs up, wary the ship was going to be attacked, or the weather had taken a drastic turn while she'd been asleep. In her pajamas, Nami left her cabin and walked onto the deck, and cast a look at their surroundings.

The sky was clear, the Baratie was still calmly sitting beside them, there were no enemy ships around. All seemed calm, which was suspicious.

"Nightmare?"

Nami jumped, biting off a scream, she swung on the place and found Zoro watching her with one eye open. He was leaned against Merry's railing with his arms behind his head, and Nami related belatedly that he was on watch, she'd forgotten. "What?" she asked as her heart returned to a reasonable rate.

"I said 'nightmare.'" He repeated dully as his other eye slid open, though he didn't bother to change his position. A sarcastic look overtook his face a moment later, "it's when you have a dream that's-"

"I know what it is!" she snapped and stormed toward him. Zoro shrugged and fell silent as if he didn't care, but Nami had learned a bit about Zoro by then. The silence wasn't uncaring, it was patient, supportive, he was waiting for her to decide if she wanted to talk about it or not. Nami wasn't sure if she wanted to not, mostly because she wasn't sure what had bothered her. Which she elected to tell him. "Just woke up feeling like something was wrong, it's obviously fine, so I'm going back to sleep."

Nami turned and started to march back toward her cabin when Zoro's voice stopped her.

"Usually… an instinct like that is not something you should ignore." She paused, and Zoro finally shifted, turning to stare at the moon overhead. They both remained there as Zoro debated if he should elaborate, and Nami wondered if she should ask. In the end, Zoro was the one who acted first: "I would suggest checking on your soulmate."

Nami's hands shook, and she grunted a confirmation as her mind whirled. Had something happened to Zoro's? Was his soulmate even alive? She gave him a sharp nod telling him she had listened and would think on it before she marched to her cabin. Nami closed the door behind her once she was inside and swiped a hand through the air opening her options, but nothing seemed amiss. There was a bit of emotional turmoil, but that was almost always present. Nami went to buy the choice and stopped.

"Instinct." She told herself, pulling her hand away. Something told her not to do it, and Nami listened as she returned to bed and pulled the covers up.

But she found quickly that she could no longer sleep.

* * *

Severus never even debated telling Holly Potter the truth as they strode through the forest in perfect silence. She'd come to him, to his home with her resolve and her ridiculous, pathetic, brave, notion of what happened next. Holly knew her fate, she'd known it the instant he told her about it just as he'd known his own as he failed to come up with a solution to the problem. There was no way to remove a living Horcrux except by the hands of the one who put it there. That physically would never happen. Which meant Holly had to die; there was no other option. And by extension, so too did Severus.

He had sworn to protect her, to do everything in his power to keep her safe. And then Albus told him the truth about her and offered them both a death sentence. For that very moment, Severus was escorting Holly to her death, and by doing so, he was going against his vow.

The very moment her heart stopped, so too would his and the path to defeating the Dark Lord would be open.

He knew he'd left information for her friends and Black, he'd done much the same. Both of them acting to ensure even after they were gone, someone would end the tyranny of the dark lord. But Potter was convinced he would earn the Dark Lord's complete confidence with this step. She thought by allowing him to turn her in that he'd become the Dark Lord's most trusted. It was a decent plan, if not for his vow.

Severus didn't tell her the truth, he'd save that from the child that was already sacrificing herself to save the world. She didn't need his death to be on her conscious, that was his burden to bear, and Albus' actions that ensured it.

The manor appeared through the tree line, and Potter's footsteps faltered. Severus wondered if she'd change her mind, he very much wanted her to despite being aware this was their only choice.

"Thanks for bringing me Professor…" she lifted Lily's eyes toward him, "thanks for uh… well, being honest, I guess."

"Shall we?" he offered no comfort, no last words. There was nothing he could say regardless… but as they walked forward, Severus wondered for the briefest moment if he should have told her the truth.

It was too late regardless, and Severus pulled his mind from it, keeping his thoughts on the color of her eyes, of Lily's eyes hoping they would be the final thing he saw in this life.

* * *

Green.

Green the color of the killing curse. The spell that claimed Cedric, her mother and father, and countless others.

Holly stared at death, at Voldemort, and gave him the middle finger.

And everything ceased to be.

* * *

Nami had a sick feeling in her chest and a wanted poster in her back pocket. Yet there was a smile plastered on Nami's face as she watched Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro walk off the gangplank. At Zoro, who didn't give away their conversation that night, nor the fact that he hadn't slept and was dearly looking forward to breakfast. Nor Usopp, who seemed to have been communicating with Kaya until far too late, causing him to sway happily in place. Or Luffy, who bounced along unaware of how much he'd changed her life.

Luffy was different, a pirate yes, but so good that Nami couldn't believe it half the time. He helped Nami breathe just by existing, and Nami wanted to give her entire life to him. She wanted to have earned the loyalty she wanted to… to travel the world with him to fulfill her dream. She wanted to make Luffy the pirate king.

But one piece of paper and brutally reminded Nami of her responsibilities. So Nami forced herself to remain on the Merry as those three left it, and when Luffy turned back with that smile of his, Nami forced her mouth open. To tell them she'd catch up, to say goodbye because she'd never see them again-

And Nami's vision bled black.

Nami froze as her knees gave out, as she pitched forward, staggering, collapsing over seemingly nothing. Arms caught her as she wheezed, Zoro's she'd latest realize for he'd been at the back and closed to her when he'd caught sight of Luffy's distraught expression. Perhaps she might have appreciated it if she wasn't too busy screaming. As alarms blared in her head, as a dozen warnings covered her vision and she could see nothing but those words again and again. The signs flashed at her, and a timer started to count down in her ears, and she was screaming-

**SOUL MATE DEATH: REVIVE?**

Nami had heard of it before, had been warned about it long ago because at one point everyone faced it. That one day, your vision would bleed, and the timer would begin, and it would be your only chance. Nami had always thought it had been cruel. To force someone to watch a timer tick down, to view your only chance to save your soulmate bleed away. For some, the genuinely kind, your soulmate could be saved, and the end could be staved off temporarily. But for most, it was an unnatural cruelty because the average person couldn't do a damned thing about it.

Distantly Nami was aware Bellemare had a soulmate, and distantly Nami realized someone out in the wide world had seen this very event happening and had watched her mother fade and hadn't stopped it. Nami had hated that person, the distant figure who could have been her father and yet hadn't saved her mother. But as Nami looked at her points and realized she was a full thousand points short-

She couldn't save them.

They were dead-

"NAMI!" Someone was shaking her shoulder, and she was screaming- "How much do you need! NAMI! Read the number! How much?!"

"She's panicking-"

"Do something-"

"Zoro!"

Pain exploded on her cheek, and Nami's screams cut off as she gasped. She glared at Zoro who unapologetically pulled his hand back, he'd slapped her, the son of a b-

"Nami!" Luffy grabbed her face, he forced her to look at him. "How much do you need!" he demanded it, forced her to think, to calculate. She'd always been good at math.

"A little less than a thousand," Nami robotically answered. There was no way. She'd been in the negatives for years and only had points now because of Luffy. A thousand wasn't possible, no matter how many good deeds she did in the minute she had left. The Baratie didn't even have enough people for her to help. Her soulmate was dead- "I can't afford it- they're dead- they're dead- they're dead- my soulmate is-"

Zoro's lips pressed together as his hands flexed on her shoulder in solidarity. Usopp was crying, hiccuping sobs escaping his lips because there was nothing to be done, and he'd never seen someone loose their soulmate before- and Luffy was... kicking off his shoes? Nami stared at him in confusion, finding herself hyper-focusing on Luffy's actions as he wrenched off his hat and smashed it onto Zoro's head.

Then Luffy locked eyes with her. "Zoro, don't let anyone, but Nami save me. No matter how many times it takes."

'What?'

"Understood," Zoro said, stepping back from her and crossing his arms. Ruthlessly he grabbed Usopp's shoulder. Nami's mouth worked trying to voice her confusion, then Luffy sprinted past her, past Zoro and Usopp, and he hurled himself into the ocean.

Nami blinked uncomprehending, staring in sheer surprise as water splashed across her legs. As her mind refused to understand. She couldn't fathom why he'd do that when he was a hammer. He couldn't swim- He couldn't swim!

She was on her feet in a second staring at the water as if it had betrayed her, "Someone- Zoro go get him!" she said panicked, but he wasn't looking at her he still had a death grip on Usopp, fingers white, as she stared at the water. But Usopp, Usopp was staring at her as if she was particularly slow. "What are you waiting for?!" she demanded.

"What are you." Zoro turned her words back on her even as he refused to look away from the water, "he's waiting for you." Then he turned, looking right through her soul, "don't you want to save them?"

Realization kicked into her like a knife to the chest, as she turned on her heel. As warnings continued to scream, as her time ticked away. She hit the water, thinking how stupid Luffy was, that he was risking his life, his dream, and future over her soulmate, who perhaps he might never even meet. How could he?! Nami sped through the water like a human well versed in swimming was. Not like she was born for it like other beings were. More like she'd been tossed in constantly since she'd been nine years old and had learned through several almost drownings how to hold her breath for as long as a human possibly could.

She cut through the waters using the movements she'd learned from her enemies and reached Luffy in mere seconds. There, she snatched hold of his vest, dragging him toward her chest, she cupped his head protectively. And she yanked him toward the air, toward safety. Every second pulling his limp body out of the waters firm grip burned, as that timer taking over her vision dropped to fifteen-

Fourteen-

Thirteen-

They breached the water gasping, and she reached blindly, unable to see past the warnings. Zoro's firm grip caught her own, and he heaved them from the ocean. Nami landed on the deck gasping and felt Luffy sit up remarkably unbothered, as he shoved into her personal space.

"Do you have enough?" he asked it with the clarity of someone who had done this before. Of someone who was prepared to throw himself back into the ocean again and again until Nami had enough points to save her soulmate. And he would, she knew he would.

Three-

Two-

Nami slapped her hand on the option in front of her face and watched it be accepted. Black fled, the timer stopped dead at 'one,' and the warnings vanished. Everything returned to normal in an instant, and Nami gasped out a broken sob.

"Did you do it?" Usopp asked, biting his nails off, as even Zoro stared her down in demand.

"Y-yes." Nami turned on the spot, sopping wet, and she hurled herself at Luffy, at her Captain, and wrapped her body around his own. They were safe, her soulmate was safe, they were alive. Luffy had saved them both, he'd put everything at risk to do that for her. Her Captain.

Luffy's arms wrapped around her body three times, stretching and laughing in relieved delight. Usopp threw his hands up, screaming in joy and about how he couldn't wait to tell Kaya. Zoro exhaled and returned Luffy's hat releasing the white-knuckled grip he'd had on it.

Then Nami reached into her pocket on a sprint second decision, grabbing the waterlogged picture of Arlong and pulled away from Luffy's stretchy grip. It was on impulse and the knowledge and trust she had for these people. She'd been stupid to think Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro wouldn't chase after her if she fled back to Arlong's grip. Of course they would. They were the Straw Hat's, and Luffy had the survival instincts of a moth in front of bright light.

"Luffy," She placed the picture in front of them all, "I need help."

* * *

Holly was wrapped up in her mother's arms. Lily's hand rubbed her back as they held each other, as Holly confessed everything in a surge of word vomit that Lily fondly listened to. Holly spoke of her life at the Dursley's and the difficulty she'd gone through trying to understand the abuse she'd been through. Then she told her mother that Sirius had helped, he'd made her realize it wasn't her fault as he shared his own stories with her.

"Dad is still dad." Holly added in a rush, "but Sirius is… he's…"

"He's also dad." Lily said in understanding, then watched Holly cringe guiltily, "oh Holly love, you can have two. It's perfectly alright. Your father and I… that's why we chose Sirius to be your god-father so that he could be your father if anything happened to you. Honestly, you can tell Sirius that he doesn't need to be guilty if you ever call him father; he's doing what he can, and we're so proud of you both."

Holly relaxed… then frowned. "Tell Sirius?"

Lily laughed her voice chiming like a bells: "oh my little girl, surely you didn't really think that girl of yours wouldn't do everything she could to save you?" Holly's eyes flew wide, and she backed a step, only one though because Lily refused let her go before she absolutely had to.

"W-what?!"

"James was upset, of course, that was mostly because he was desperate to see some grandchildren running around. Though I told him you could always just blood adopt, especially since Na- err, your soulmate was adopted as well."

"What?!"

Lily blushed, realizing her slip and tried to recover: "Anyway! Your soulmate is a lovely young woman, and I approve, we both do, so don't you worry."

"I-… mom…-huh?!" Holly blabbered helplessly

"Of course, you both will need to work on your relationship as every soul-pair does."

"I'm dead though."

Lily nodded along and glanced at her wrist, almost as if she was checking for the time. "Oh yes, for about… thirty more seconds."

"WHAT?!"

Lily suddenly yanked Holly into a tighter hug, the tightest Holly had ever been in. Her mother acted as if she was trying to wrap her body around Holly's so she could protect her from the world. Holly started, reeling in confusion as Lily suddenly rushed to speak.

"Now, remember when you go back to play dead. Severus won't be able to help you, so you have to escape yourself, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Holly jerked, but Lily didn't pause, "when you do finally defeat snake-face, try to remember that you have options. And when you meet that soulmate of yours, be sure to visit her mother's grave, it's important." Lily hummed, trying to think of everything she needed to say, "lastly, remember that your father and I love you, always. We'll be waiting, hopefully, for a very long time, I want to hear all the stories when we see each other again."

Lily pulled back; "now, go home."

And Holly breathed once again.


	7. Chapter 7

A wardrobe hit the ground with a crash, it's doors shattered, and the wood cracked and bent. The priceless artifact was destroyed; it's intricate design and rune work, which had taken years to develop, was gone in an instant. But it's current owner didn't care. The wardrobe was simply one more item in the storm that was his anger and his grief. Roaring, he grabbed at a nearby vase and hurled it at the closest wall as tears helplessly poured from his eyes.

Holly was gone. Holly had walked to her death while he slept, she was gone.

He swore clawing at the walls ripping his nails in the process, the pain didn't register and nor did the bloody streaks he left behind. All he cared about was destroying everything. Why had he slept, he'd known she'd been acting off that afternoon. Oddly affectionate and solemn around them all. Sirius should have known better, should have realized something was wrong, he should have guarded her door. If he had maybe she'd be alive right now!

All he'd wanted for her to be happy, he wanted her to leave this war and escape with her soulmate somewhere where Voldemort could not touch her. But he'd so selfishly thought only of how much he'd miss her when she was gone. And now this. A Horcrux, a fragment attached to her and Dumbledore- Sirius snarled, slamming a fist into the wall. He ripped at the tapestry of the Black family, where Holly's name had lain since he'd returned to the house.

Dumbledore had known. He had known what was within her, and he'd done nothing about it, he'd given them no warning, no sign, no chance to save her. If he'd known! Didn't the fool realize he was a Black!? Sirius knew a book on Horcruxes existed within Grimmauld places library and it might have had a sign of how to destroy the fragment while Holly lived. But he had kept it secret, and now Holly was dead, convinced that her only choice was to let Voldemort kill her.

He screamed again, felt it burn in his throat, and his vocal cords protested. But Sirius couldn't stop. His daughter was dead.

A room over, Hermione grabbed Ron as he dragged her across the floor in his rush to leave Grimmauld Place. In her pocket was that blasted collection of notes, Holly's death letter, and the proof of her trust in them. Hermione had very purposely read every word before she'd dare show the message to Ron and Sirius, and it was for a good reason. For as Sirius exploded in grief, Ron became determined.

"Wait!" she cried, heels skidding across the ground, "we can't!"

"Can't- the hell we can't! We're getting Holly back now!" Ron pushed on toward the doors noting that Walburga's painting was uncovered, but for once, she wasn't cursing at them. She seemed far too curious about the happenings of the house. Ron nearly sent a fire-ball toward the bitch, she was probably spying on them, likely happy this had happened.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed tears in her eyes, "this isn't getting Holly back, she wrote this hours ago. By the time I found it, Holly was already in Voldemort's hands-" a vase broke nearby, and Hermione did her best not to flinch as Sirius screamed, his anguish palpable in the magic twisting across Grimmauld place's wards.

"She was supposed to go to her soulmate!-"

Ron finally stopped and rounded on her: "Then what are we supposed to do, Hermione." He reached up and wrenched on his hair. Ron didn't know what to do. Holly was dead, Sirius had snapped, and he… he couldn't breathe.

_"I'm Holly. Holly Potter, nice to meet you."_

"No, no, I think… I think her soulmate will save her." Hermione insisted, "which means she'll be trapped without a Horcrux with Voldemort."

"Her soulmate, Hermione that's mad-"

"LISTEN TO ME RONALD!" Ron flinched back at her outburst, finally falling silent. In that moment of harsh breathing, all Hermione and Ron could hear was Sirius steadily destroying everything he could get his hands on. The pause only lasted a second. And Hermione was quick to break it now that Ron had finally stopped. "There is a chance Holly's soulmate saved her, and when she does, Holly will be trapped, alone, with an immortal Voldemort. We have to make sure she's not."

Ron's eyes went a bit wide, already shaking his head: "But- but Holly's soulmate hasn't fixed anything, she won't have the points for that-"

"No! There's a chance! She fixed Holly's scar from Umbridge, and scars always cost a fair amount, especially since that scar was a curse mark. That means she's got points now… so there's- there's a chance. So we have to ensure it's worth something. Because if Holly's soulmate saves her, she'll be with Voldemort, who is still immortal. We have to ensure he isn't, using the hints she gave us." Hermione shoved a hand in her pocket and pulled out the papers, she slapped her hands on the parchment and stared Ron down, trying to import to him how important this mission was. "She put her faith in us, gave us everything we need to find the other Horcruxes. Holly is counting on us, Ron!"

Silence fell, even Sirius seemed to have finally stopped.

"We need all the help we can get," Ron said and turned on his heel toward the floo. As Sirius had said in his rage, everything happening now was because of Dumbledore's secrets, and Ron refused to make the same mistake. He'd call his brothers, his sister, his parents, he'd call the DA, and the entire Order. They'd need everything together to succeed. "Sirius! Pull yourself together, we're going to save Holly, and we need you!" He hollered in Sirius' general direction as Hermione rushed to catch up already rescanning the papers so she could pass on everything they needed.

"Save her?" They glanced into the room where Sirius had destroyed everything. He'd stopped finally, with bloodied hands. The place looked like a murder scene, and Sirius didn't look much better.

"Are you coming or not?" Ron demanded harshly on purpose, hoping to snap the man out of his grief long enough for him to help.

"Yes." Sirius dropped the picture frame in his hands, and it crashed into the ground. "What do I need to do?"

Together they'd end this. Together, they'd save Holly… if there was any part of Holly left to save.

* * *

"thirty-two… thirty-three… thirty-four."

Severus couldn't peel his eyes from her body. Holly lay across the floor, her hair cascading across the ground, her arm twisted unnaturally, and her eyes hidden. Dead, that child had been killed, and Bellatrix was counting down the time until it would be permanent, unaware that she was also counting down the seconds until Severus followed, dropping for failing to protect her.

Each second seemed to match the beat of his heart. He had thirty seconds to live, and Holly's corpse lay there, yet all he could think about was Petunia's doll.

Petunia had carried the doll everywhere with her, it went to school, went to the grocery, to the cinema. It went everywhere, and Severus had gotten used to seeing it lying in Petunia's arms when he had the misfortune to see her. Before now, he hadn't made the comparison; the black hair, the green eyes, and the tanned skin from all the use the doll had gotten. The toy looked exactly like Holly. Unnaturally so, it matched that day Lily had gotten her Hogwarts letter. The day Petunia dropped it and had run off without it for the first time. It had landed exactly like Holly lay now, hair in its face, limbs at unnatural angles, its body still and growing cold.

She was seventeen years old, and he'd just escorted her to her death, all the while focusing on nothing but his own.

What had he done? Everything he'd done had been for Lily, for her forgiveness. He'd protected Lily's daughter, taught her what he could, and had gotten her killed. Lily would never forgive him now, and how could he blame her? The child she had died for… he was so blind. So convinced she was a spoiled brat for so many years until he'd seen the truth, and now-

He deserved this.

"Fifty-eight… fifty-nine…"

Severus closed his eyes.

"Sixty. It's time, my lord."

And opened them.

He was alive; he was- Severus shot his attention to Holly, but the girl remained motionless. Smart enough to stay still? Or had the vow spared him because of the circumstances?

"Severus." The mask remained on his face as he bowed his head toward the Dark Lord. Miraculously neither the Dark Lord nor the death eaters had noticed any slip in character while he awaited his death. Perhaps something could be salvaged from this after-all. Perhaps… perhaps he could do as Holly wanted for him and earn Voldemort's trust then kill the man himself when he was close. "yes, my lord?"

"Check her."

"Of course." He bowed at the 'honor.' If she was alive, the gods were looking out for her, for the dark lord to send him of all people, it was he to check if she was breathing. The one person who would lie to save her. Severus strode forward, dropping to a knee; he positioned his cloak exactly so to cover any movement she might make if he were to touch her. Reaching forward, he offered a prayer to Circe that Holly's soulmate had done the unthinkable. Almost hesitating, Severus slid his fingers under her hair and pressed them to her neck. And he waited.

_Thump-thump_

Oh god. Holly was alive.

Severus pressed down on her neck in some manner of comfort, then he pulled back. That she hadn't moved from her position was impressive and an excellent first step to them both surviving this day. It would be up to him now to ensure they did. "She is dead, my lord." He stated face blank.

Bellatrix cackled in delight crooning about Holly's pathetically useless soulmate. But the Dark Lord's suspicion was not removed by Severus' comment. Instead, he turned to the next of the Death Eaters… Narcissa. "Narcissa… check her."

"Of course, my lord."

Narcissa stepped forward, and Severus was immediately torn. She would give up Holly's state and Voldemort would immediately attack both her, and him for his lies. Quickly he started to plan their escape. Anti apparition wards covered the property, visitors had to walk through the grounds to get to the house and could only escape after walking out of them. To survive, he'd have to flee the ballroom full of death eaters, out into the halls, out the doors, and across the grounds. All with Holly in tow. This was made difficult by the doors being currently covered by the Lestrange's, Rabastan and Rodolphus.

Doing all that with the Dark Lord attacking them- they'd never make it.

Narcissa leaned down and plucked Holly's hand from the ground, her fingers pressing to the pulse point. Her eyes flashed slightly, but her mask was perfect as she gently placed Holly's arm to the floor and straightened. "Dead." She announced.

Never in all his years had Severus expected Narcissa Malfoy to lie directly to the Dark Lord. Lucius had been as loyal as any of them before the prophecy incident and his arrest. Now… now Lucius' was Voldemort's favorite target, and Draco was expected to take his place as a loyal soldier. And suddenly it made sense. To save her husband, who knelt next to the Dark Lord with a bloodied battered body, to save her son, who could no longer keep his hands from shaking. She had lied because she knew as much as Severus did, that Holly was the only hope left for the Dark Lord to meet his end.

Narcissa did not look at him, and he did not look at her as the Dark Lord laughed. He lifted his arms and basked in his complete victory, he had the school, the ministry, and now the only hope for the light was dead. As far as he knew, he had won. The Death Eater's joined him, celebrating, casting spells toward the roof and making fools of themselves. Except for Draco, who had paled while staring at his school rival, someone his own age, who had faced Voldemort without fear. Except for Lucius focusing on just staying up. Except for Narcissa, who knew the truth and was realizing exactly where Severus stood in this war. And except for Severus, who desperately needed a plan to get Holly and himself out safely.

"What shall we do with the body, my Lord?" Rabastan was the one who asked a smile carved across his face.

Voldemort lifted his arms, and silence fell, his Death Eater's bowing down before him. Narcissa returned to her son and knelt beside him, while Severus dropped on the spot beside Holly, and he saw a flash of green under her bangs.

"We shall display her for the world to see." Voldemort decreed, "we shall hang her in Diagon Alley, and all shall know of my absolute victory."

"My lord." Severus spoke up, daringly, "please, allow me to do this for you." This was his chance, he could carry her out himself. They could escape.

Voldemort paused, debating, then he smirked, "Severus, yes… you have earned this. With this, you shall show the world you belong to me." Possessiveness dripped off his tongue, and Voldemort strode forward. Beside him, green vanished as Holly subtly knocked her arm on his ankle in solidarity. Then Voldemort stood over him. Icy fingers slipped under his chin and wrenched his head up. Nails dug into his face possessively, and Severus twisted his occlumency, so it seemed as though he was delighted at the attention and the Dark Lord's complete victory. Sure enough, Voldemort's magic slammed into his mind even as the monster leaned in.

"You are mine, you will always be mine."

"Yes?" He answered as something brushed the back of his robes.

"That old fool never knew the truth, but he knew it in the end. You have always belonged to me," He laughed, "Potter was clueless, allowing you to lead her right into my grasp. How frightened she was."

Draco made a noise nearby knowing that wasn't true, as Narcissa tensed up able to see what Severus could not, to realize what was about to-

"Yes, my lord-" He cut off as Holly grabbed his ankle and dug her nails in, and a hiss echoed through the room. Severus, with Voldemort's claws digging into his cheeks, watched as Voldemort's eyes widened and dropped- then Holly barreled into his side, sending them to the floor in a cascade of limbs.

"She lives!"

Holly rolled to her feet and hurled a shield up and a spell from Voldemort crashed into it. Out of habit, Severus regained his own feet and placed a protective charm behind them as Bellatrix tossed a curse their way with a scream of fury. He tried to figure out what happened- and spotted the snake snapping at them.

"She tasted my heart-beat," Holly explained, "she told him I was alive." And how Holly hoped the clear understanding of what Nagini told Voldemort was because of some dormant genes and not because her death had been useless.

"She is mine!" Voldemort cursed Bellatrix, who shrieked and fell back. While behind by Voldemort's throne, Narcissa wrenched her husband to his feet and dragged him and her son from the room through a secret door within their manor, a pathway Severus noted as an escape route before he and Holly darted to the side to avoid a killing curse. Voldemort's action benefited them, it prevented the Death Eater's from attacking him so long as he was close to Holly. Using that, they might be able to escape.

"Protago!" A shining shield formed as two spells splashed against it, but it did nothing to the crucio that slipped straight through- and struck Holly directly in the chest. She dropped with a scream of pain. Voldemort followed up with a killing curse, and Severus hit the ground, grabbing Holly's body and rolling them to the side. Green cracked the flooring where they had just been. Severus launched to his feet, and Holly followed, not letting her shaking muscles stop her from defending herself.

Lifting his eyes, Severus locked his gaze with the Dark Lord, and he sneered.

Severus had lost track of how long he'd acted as a double agent. Every night he'd dragged his body into the school after several bouts of torture, and yet he'd still gone back at Dumbledore's request. Always Dumbledore's. He'd lost a full month when Holly had been fourteen, and the Dark Lord had revived; a month he'd been trapped in a magically induced coma because of what the Dark Lord had done to him. And he'd gone back. Severus learned his life was going to end because of a Horcrux Holly possessed, and he'd gone back. Now Severus had given himself up; he was no longer a spy, and the sheer relief he felt made him breathless.

He could side publicly to Lily's daughter, for as long as it took the Dark Lord to remember the tattoo set to poison and drive him mad.

"Move!" Holly was the one to drag them to the side as Nagini snapped out at his neck. Her deadly fangs missed him by a breath. Nagini… she had to be a Horcrux, if he could just kill her and escape.

Snarling, he snapped out his own spells uncaring that they Voldemort dodged them. He, unlike much of the Order, attacked with deadly intent, so even if he missed the Dark Lord, three death eaters fell permanently, their only chance of being saved being their soulmates. Nott dropped, and he deflected a spell from Avery who'd taken the opportunity to attack Severus when Holly was pushed away from him to defend herself. He reflected two more curses sending them toward the Lestrange's; unfortunately, he missed and backed off once again.

They were surrounded on all sides.

Holly scrambled back to her feet, racing through a set of spells that could only have come from Black. That was his aggressive style built on top of Holly's natural affinity for the Dark Arts. But her footwork was terrible. "We need to get to the door." Severus hissed at her, and Holly nearly rolled her eyes at him, that was pointing out the obvious, something he'd always punished her for. Knowing that, however, and accomplishing it were two different things. She was severely outmatched, and Voldemort was no longer holding back-

"Snake!" she cried, spotting Nagini going after Snape again.

Severus wrenched his leg back, avoiding Nagini's furious bite, he shot a cutting curse at it and watched as Voldemort used the first and only shielding spell Severus had ever seen him use to defend her. That confirmed it then, the snake was a Horcrux as much as Holly had been.

They couldn't escape, couldn't flee. They were trapped unless they managed to do the impossible and kill Voldemort. But little did Severus know, he was the only one actually trapped.

Holly knew it was there, that tempting flashing option available to her. That one-way path to a new world, the ability to transport to their home and away from her own. Not to their side, of course, but to closer than she'd ever been before. It would still be up to Holly to find them, to use the hints she'd been given. She could do it, she could leave and now… now she had no Horcrux to tie her to the world.

The Order could win the war without her now, the prophecy had been fulfilled. Hermione, Ron, and Sirius would have everything they needed to finish it, and if she managed to kill Voldemort here, it would be easy. But even if she didn't Holly had done her job, no one could say she hadn't. Holly had literally died for this world, and now she should be done. Yet, even as that option glared at her, Holly wasn't taking it because Snape, who she'd hated for years, was standing with her. If she left, then Snape would die, and that wouldn't be something she could forget.

How stupid. Holly was being a moron giving up a chance to find her literal soulmate because of a man who'd bullied her for almost five years because he'd thought she'd been a spoiled brat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Holly twisted, and her spell met with Voldemort's and connected. Prior incantatem. She'd thought Voldemort would have replaced his wand by that point, somehow he hadn't, and Holly was taking advantage of it.

Energy surged between them, Holly's will against Voldemort's to win… and she was loosing. Holly had an out, she had an escape, and she knew it. Her will to save the magical world, to stay and fight, had evaporated. Voldemort's spell crept along the connection and green raced toward the end of her wand, but this time there was no encouraging words from her parent's ghosts to save her-

"Sectumsempra!"

Holly flicked her gaze to the side, and Nagini gave a dying screech. Voldemort cried out at the same time, responding to the death of his Horcrux. The genuine rage that overtook his face was actually comforting to Holly - she couldn't feel it splitting open her skull - even if it had his spell crawling all the faster toward her. It was going to reach her; she was going to- Severus' hand grabbed her own and hurled her palms upward, cutting off the spell and sending it into the roof. The force of it caused the ceiling above to collapse, and concrete collapsed toward them. Severus didn't waste a second and snatched hold of her upper arm, half dragging her toward the door past Nagini's body. Holly watched as he chain cast a dozen spells taking out Death eaters left and right in a clear lethal manner. Together they reached the door; when Severus shoved her to the ground avoiding a splashing green spell crashing where her head had been a moment before.

And something hooked her leg, Holly tripped as Severus hurled himself forward. And the doors slammed closed between them, leaving her face to face with Voldemort once again alone. All the while, that flashing option tempted her.

* * *

Bill was one hundred percent going to be fired. But some things were worth being fired for.

He jerked forward unexpectedly and snatched the collar of his - former - boss and wrenched the goblin straight off his feet. Ruthlessly he pressed the tip of his wand to his bosses head. Nearby Ron made a shocked sound but nothing else.

"Listen up." He hissed channeling all the protective fury his mother had given him. All for his family, his brother, and the too-small little kid Ron attached himself to on his first day of Hogwarts. "I know there is a Horcrux in that vault, and you will let us destroy it." He'd been in the vaults, he been passed that one before and he'd sensed it's malicious energy deep within his core. Bill was magically sensitive; it was the reason he'd taken the job he had. The ability to sense the magic in traps was part of the reason the goblins hired him, and it was the reason they kept him. Because of that, Bill had sensed the darkness in one particular vault years ago and hadn't even thought about it until Ron told him about the Horcruxes keeping Voldemort alive.

"You are fired, Weasley."

As if he cared by this point. To defeat Voldemort, it needed to be destroyed. And Bill would not fail.

At his side, Fleur's eyes burned, and she barked a noise that was more veela than human, she was at his back, prepared to figure out the rest of their lives after he'd been fired and banned from Gringott's later.

"Listen here, you little piece of- so help the gods if you don't let us into the vault right now." She snapped.

"I will not-

"NOW I SAID!"

* * *

"Potter!" Severus threw his body into the door, but the spell held fast. Thinking fast, he thought of another path, but no, he did not know where the secret exit let out so he could only use this door. He needed to get in this door, and to do that needed… needed that bloody elf! "Dobby!"

A crack sounded, and Severus didn't waste a moment. "If you want to save Holly, then you need to help me this instant. I need to be in that room. Now." By all the gods, Severus was thankful one of Holly's memories that he'd stolen during their occlumency training had been about that bloody elf. The very slave Malfoy had been tricked into giving up, would be the one to save Holly now, and end this war.

"Understood Professy Snake, sir!"

On the other side of the door, Holly was surrounded by death eaters while standing face to face to Voldemort. Taunting him slightly, she lifted her hand in the duelist stance Lockheart had accidentally taught her. "Surely you know how to duel Tom? Someone must have taught you?" It was a parody of her fourth year, but Holly was out of options, and everyone in that room knew it. There was no port-key, no one coming to rescue her. Her choice was to fight and stall until Snape could get out, then take her option to another world. She would leave everything behind, and have faith the hints she'd given her family would be enough to save them.

Hermione hadn't been kidding when she stated they might not be able to take anything with them. Holly literally had nothing on her but her wand, and it was cracking from the force of this battle.

Voldemort laughed at her amused now that it had come to this, his apparent victory: "I shall kill you as many times as it takes Potter and I shall enjoy every moment of it."

Holly forced a smirk and bowed low to her opponent, she didn't need to be pushed this time, she did actually know how it worked now. She knew the rules, which would not be followed. Voldemort surprisingly returned her bow, respecting her cockroach-like existence that refused to be extinguished.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

* * *

Neville sprinted up the stairs cursing. "Why does this tower have to have so many stairs!"

"Out of spite," Ginny said in return, darting past him. Thanks to her quidditch training, she was in better shape. While Luna followed along at a swift pace behind them both, keeping watch for the Carrows. They had vanished halfway through the day, confusing and delighting the school until they discovered why.

Holly.

Ginny skidded to a stop outside the Room of Requirements and started to pace speaking and thinking about what they wanted.

"Give us the Horcrux hidden in the school. I need the Horcrux hidden in the school. Show me the Horcrux hidden in the school."

And a door appeared.

Holly had been right, a Horcrux had been hidden in their school. A piece of Voldemort that Luna suspected was the reason the defense professors kept dying. A malicious soul-fragment that she realized only then had been making her skin crawl every time she'd entered the room for their DA lessons.

Ginny grabbed for the door and shoved it open with all the confidence of a Gryffindor. She stepped past the threshold holding tight to the child she'd been as her childhood hero, the person Ginny desperately wanted to be, the baby she'd dressed up for at Halloween, stood over her, and saved her life. If Holly could do it, could walk to her death to protect them all, the least Ginny could do was destroy this soul-fragment that would try possessing her just as the diary had.

The room was empty, all for a single diadem innocently sitting in the middle of the room.

And they strode toward it together.

* * *

Mundungus Fletcher didn't see them coming, none of them.

He didn't see the elf that hit his leg and clung fast with a furiously violent scream. Its nails dug deep in his leg and demanded he returns some stupid locket. At the same time, the twin hellions snatched hold of his arms. One kicked the back of his leg and sent him into the ground while the other wrenched his arms behind his back, and they bore down on him. He had never been able to tell them apart like Potter could. So he had no idea that it was George at his back keeping out of sight, or that it was Fred snarling in his ear violence simmering just under his skin.

Then, from the nearby alley, Black appeared.

Mundungus had been told Black was innocent of his crimes, but at that moment, he understood why the world had been convinced he'd murdered an entire alley full of Muggles.

"Where. Is. My. Brothers. Locket."

He never should have tried to steal from that house; clearly, some of it had been cursed.

* * *

Nami didn't waste a moment as she launched off the Merry into the ocean below for the second time that afternoon. This time for her moron of a crew-member who had no respect for his life. Or for the peace of mind for his soulmate, if she was even alive.

It felt like hours ago that she'd saved her own soulmates life and confessed the truth to her crew. To Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro, who had listened relatively patiently as she spoke of her mother, her island, and the pirate Arlong. Luffy unsurprisingly hadn't cared at all as she poured her soul out, he had only asked her who he needed to beat up, and really, that was so him it was unreal. It was surreal to know he'd help her without knowing anything about her history and why she needed help. Meanwhile, Usopp's terror had made her own fear a bit more justified. It was still Zoro's fury over what she'd suffer that had given her complicated emotions. Truly she hadn't realized he cared that much.

Of course, it was shortly after that Krieg showed up, followed quickly by Mihawk of all people.

Usopp and Nami had been ordered to stay out of the battle - as if they'd actually interfere with a Shichibukai. Still, now that it was officially over, Nami didn't waste a second. She was the fastest swimmer, her practice forced by fishmen, and she didn't waste a second in diving to collect Zoro. Who may or not even be alive with how red the water was turning. It was a fishman frenzy waiting to happen.

She found his body sinking steadily while he struggled to remain conscious. Zoro could move unlike Luffy, but the excruciating pain from his open wound would ensure he drowned before he bled out. Nami surged toward him, reaching for his shoulders as he grabbed for her outstretched hands. He wanted to live; it was a relief to know, especially considering she'd been convinced he was suicidal after challenging a warlord to battle.

Nami grabbed under Zoro's shoulders, careful not to touch the open wound coating the ocean red. Her clothes would be covered in it, but she'd call the outfit a worthy sacrifice if he lived. Unfortunately, Zoro had far more body mass than Luffy did, and it was immediately a struggle to get them out of the water. Luffy was a small dead weight, but Zoro was a large one who could barely help her. Kicking with all the strength of her body Nami carted Zoro upward, her lungs burned. In her arms, Zoro's expression twisted in pain. He'd never shown her a weakness like that before… but nor had he fully trusted her before that day either, and he gasped as he inhaled water. His body jerked, trying to find air. When he couldn't, he went limp. A moment later, they breached the water.

Nami frantically glanced around for a bit of land that wasn't Krieg's ship- was Luffy attacking Mihawk?! Goddammit - right beside her, the Merry appeared, and Usopp leaned over the railings to offer her a hand. Nami gratefully took it, allowing Zoro's friends to take him before climbing up herself and shooing them away. There was no way the morons that got scurvy knew CPR, and even if they did, they didn't have the experience she did with it.

She didn't need to assess Zoro to know he wasn't breathing even if habit wanted her to check before she started pressing down on his chest, especially since he had an open wound in the middle of it. Nami quickly took Zoro's head and tilted it back: "Usopp! Hold his head here, all the way back, do you understand? If you move it, he's dead!" yes, she was scaring him, but she didn't have time to explain- god, how many times had she done this before? Sneaking away after Arlong was done with the villagers of her island and throwing herself into the water. Learning by trial and error exactly how to get drowned people back and succeeding only half of the time.

Nami pressed down as hard as she could on Zoro's chest, ignoring the blood coating her hands. He wasn't breathing, and no matter the damage she did to his ribs, she needed him alive to even think about fixing all that. She lost count - dammit dammit - Nami grabbed Zoro's face and breathed.

God, she was going to leave that morning. If she'd left, she wouldn't have been there to save Zoro from drowning, and she'd have left him with the moronic group who didn't know CPR. Hell! She was teaching it to them the second they were away from this chaos.

Zoro choked on water as he tried to clear his lungs, and she wrenched back and shot a look at Yosaku: "first aid kit, now!" the man bolted as Zoro stupidly raised his damned sword to give Luffy an oath of all things. But the moment his hand dropped, the moment Yosaku came flying over with the Merry's first aid kit, she slapped him.

"What the hell witch?!"

"You are not allowed to die!" she shrieked, "do you understand me?" None of them were allowed to do that, not after they gave her hope. Not after she'd finally found something to believe in, a path to her dream and a way to end her hell. These people, this crew had to make it, they had to! Because… one day soon she'd be free, one day she'd draw her map, and one day she'd introduce her soulmate to them, and they'd see the world and…

Zoro stared up at her as she cut open his shirt further to see the wound she had to stitch together- she had no idea how to do that, Arlong didn't cut people up he drowned them, and Nami hadn't had to stitch herself up ever thanks to her soulmate. Usopp amazingly seemed to be on top of that, he was mumbling to himself in a way that Nami knew meant he was talking to Kaya… who was training to be a Doctor. She'd have an idea of how to stitch up skin and if she didn't, she could figure it out and help them. Nami refocused on Zoro's face as he gave her a single firm nod promising her as he promised Luffy. Then he went completely limp, leaving his fate in his crews' frantic hands.

* * *

A commotion occurred behind Holly, but she dared not look back. She and Voldemort circled each other; every spell she cast was a desperate one. True, Holly had received training, but it wasn't enough to make up Voldemort's decades of experience. Voldemort was playing with her, making it seem like she had a hope in hell when they both knew she didn't. He was enjoying it, and she was helpless before his strength.

A spell glanced off Holly's arms, and she shrieked as the spell cut to the bone, and her arm went dead, perhaps permanently, Holly didn't know. She hurriedly transferred her wand to her other hand and kept fighting.

It was like fourth year but so much worse. Holly had always known how outmatched she was, but in this case, she understood all the spells he was using against her. She knew what everyone did, and if they hit her, she knew the consequences, the knowledge was terrifying.

Yet she didn't flee, some insane part of her must have had faith that things would work out.

_"I told you not to touch it!"_

_"I didn't mean to- ouch!"_

_"Fleur, grab it hurry!"_

Twisting her body, she caught sight of Snape, who apparently was abandoning all Slytherin qualities that afternoon. He was turning into a Gryffindor and throwing himself into battle against every death eater present. Not only that, it seemed he'd dragged Dobby along with him, and the little elf was destroying those who were foolish enough to attack him with a vengeance.

Holly felt a fissure of amusement, people always doubted House-elves were dangerous. She honestly knew very well that Dobby was a nuclear bomb hidden behind tennis ball eyes. Honestly, she was thankful he was on their side.

_"I don't speak parseltongue!"_

_"None of us do, just… just hiss at it! Or something!"_

_"Oh sure Fred, I'll just spontaneously hiss the right words to open the dark muncher's soul piece-"_

_"Both of you shut up! The killing curse will destroy it."_

_"I can't use that curse."_

_"Can you, Sirius?"_

_"All you need is hatred, and I promise you this… I have enough of that. Avada Kedavra!"_

Voldemort jerked suddenly as Holly narrowly deflected another attack, and to her shock, the spell struck true, sending the snake flying. Wide-eyed Holly pressed her advantage and watched as he shielded- he never shielded, why- Voldemort started attacking at triple the speed with… was that fear in his eyes? Holly watched his eyes dance to his snake, then to Lucius, Bellatrix, and- to her scar. His eyes flew wide in realization, and Holly was just as quick on the uptake. Hermione, Ron, and Sirius were destroying the Horcruxes, and Voldemort knew it. She'd have to kill him here otherwise he'd just make more.

She couldn't leave now.

"No!" Voldemort swore shooting the killing curse at her. Holly ducked narrowly, and the spell struck Bellatrix in the back, ending her existence far too simply for Holly to be truly satisfied. She rolled across the ground, exhausted beyond belief. Her limbs shook with the effort of merely standing, of getting her wand up, and she had no idea if that was the blood-loss or the prolonged fight she'd been forced it. Holly wanted so badly to just stay there, to sleep for a month. Holly wanted Sirius to hold her. For Ron and Hermione to be arguing nearby. She wanted her soulmate, to be in that world with all her loved ones. To be free.

"You will not hurt Holly Potter!" Dobby stepped in front of her, hand poised to snap.

_"This is for Holly, screw you, Tom!"_

_"You can fuck right off to hell, Voldemort!"_

_"That is being for Master Regulus!"_

Voldemort jerked as if he were responding to something that wasn't there, and Dobby's fingers snapped together, sending a glittering pink light toward him. Across the countryside, Voldemort's Horcruxes were ripped away all at once; and as a result, he paused, just for a split second. It was enough, enough for Dobby to Elf to blow Voldemort, the Dark Lord himself, up from the inside with a pink glittery spell.

Holly gaped as bloodied chunks littered the ground and started to disintegrate. At the same time, the Death eaters around them collapsed, clutching their arms, all of them… including Snape. Holly took a single moment to adjust to the fact that Dobby killed Voldemort and ended the war. Before she launched to her feet and rushed for her professor. She didn't know when the Death Eaters would recover, but when they did, they'd be violent and targeting her and Snape both. Neither of them was well enough for that battle.

She skidded to a stop and grabbed Snape's arm and turned to Dobby: "get us out of here, Dobby!"

The little elf didn't hesitate; he popped right beside her, grabbed her and Snape, and vanished with a subtle pop.

Holly landed on her knees inside Grimmauld place, then turned and threw up. Her stomach had, had enough; it rebelled from exhaustion and a little bit because of how gross Voldemort's chunky body had been. A shaking hand gathered her hair and held it before her stomach finally calmed, and she could lean back enough to realize it had been Snape to offer her that comfort. She didn't mention it, and he avoided eye-contact. Their odd camaraderie faltering now that the battle was over.

"S'gone?" she slurred a bit, glancing at his arm, and the man's expression twisted. He hadn't been confident enough to check, but now that she'd brought it up- he lifted the sleeve of his dueling robe, and they both looked down at his clear skin. The dark mark was gone. "So he's dead then."

"He is dead."

"…" she glanced at Snape from the side, "and Dobby killed him."

"And the elf killed him."

Holly exhaled a noise through her lips, her eyes crinkled, and she started to laugh. After all that, after all Dumbledore's plans, Dobby had killed Voldemort. She burst out laughing, sounding slightly hysterical and mostly relieved. It was done, she'd survived, and the prophecy was over. She could leave, she could go find her soulmate and be free for the first time ever. Holly had no idea what to do with the knowledge, she hadn't believed it was actually her fate, and the idea was suddenly terrifying.

"Three Horcruxes in a few hours… better than Dumbledore's record by a few years." Holly said, trying to contain her giggles and earned an actual snort of amusement from the bat himself.

"Looks like Black, Granger, and Weasley were good for something after all." He continued to stare at the unblemished skin on his arm, it was surreal. Since he'd been a teenager, he'd had it, that link to Voldemort, that sign of all his transgressions and now it was gone.

"We're alive."

"Yes…" He still couldn't believe it. Lily had obviously doused her daughter in liquid luck at one point, there was no other explanation for it.

"…can I go to bed now?" Holly slouched into his side too exhausted to move, and he bit back the reprimand. She deserved that at least.

"Yes, Potter, you may sleep."

"Mmkay." She was out in an instant, magically, physically, and emotionally exhausted. She dropped, and Severus allowed her to fall into him, it gave him better access to the mess that was her arm. Taking her arm in his hands, he pressed his wand to the wound and started to pull the curse from it. The injury would scar, but he doubted she would mind, Holly had plenty of scars, and this one was a scar of victory. And if she did care… her soulmate would likely repair it, considering they could afford to save Potter's life.

Healing the wound, Severus paused long enough to summon his Patronus. "Poppy, Potter requires a healer. The Dark Lord is dead. Come to base." He couldn't say Grimmauld, of course, and there was always the worry Poppy wouldn't come because it was him or that if she did, she would attack him on sight. It was a chance he had to take; for Potter and he were both severely injured from the battle.

He would like to stay awake wary of Poppy's arrival and the arrival of Black, Granger, and Weasley. But he could not deny how exhausted he was, and sleep claimed him the moment he stopped for more than a second. He passed out.

Of course, that was only long enough for Black to return with the twin Weasley's and to discover they were downstairs.

So about six minutes, really.


	8. Chapter 8

A bang startled Holly awake; it was a noise she was unfortunately used to hearing in her childhood, so Holly was immediately alert when it happened. Though even if she hadn't been alarmed by the noise itself, she would have been with the pillow Holly was using, which was not actually one. Professor Snape, the dungeon bat himself, was allowing her to snuggle into him without a single complaint, and that was enough to wake her up completely.

Holly glanced up at her teacher and felt pale as he shot her a mocking look from above. With a high pitched noise, she retreated. Holly scooted backward with a gasp nearly bowling over Sirius, who decided to tackle her from behind at that moment. Sirius fell forward, narrowly catching himself before he sunk to the ground embracing her. Automatically Holly reached her hands up and wrapped them enough his back as she realized where she was and what had happened.

"Pup, my pup! Kiddo… Holly… I thought- I thought I lost you." Sirius shook in her arms, his body heaving with relieved tears. Tighter and tighter, he gripped her, and Holly didn't protest as she glanced over his shoulder at Snape, who stood gingerly, bracing his palm against the hallway wall. He was quite pale, she noted, more so than usual, then again Holly suspected she was likely the same considering the battle they'd gone through. "Never do that to me again, Holly, never again. I can't handle it." To Sirius, there was no world that he'd survive if she didn't, it took the knowledge that she might be dead to make that clear. She was his last tie to reality, and while he'd never tell her that, he knew it was true. If she died, he'd follow her.

Sirius tugged Holly in tighter reassuring himself that yes, she was alive, she was real and not a corpse to be buried with her parents. When she gave a soft: "Ouch."

Sirius pulled back instantly alarmed when she recoiled from his touch. He'd rubbed his hand right against the mess that was her arm, it quickly brought to mind how many dark spells had struck her during the battle. She very likely needed a healer. "Snivellus! What did you do to her?"

Snape rolled his eyes and Holly sagged with a sigh, she had so hoped her god-father would ignore the professor. She wasn't in the mood to explain everything yet. In fact, now that Holly's prophesied mission was complete, all Holly wanted to do was vanish into the country-side to rest for a month, at least. Unfortunately, Holly highly doubted she'd get the chance now that the Dark Lord was dead. Not after all the damage he'd done and all the expectations heaped upon her.

"I had thought you were intelligent enough to come to the correct assumption, foolish of me to assume you have anything resembling inductive reasoning."

"What was that!"

Holly tugged on Sirius' arm before he pulled away to attack Snape, who was probably injured: "Sirius… he saved my life, so lets not okay?"

Sirius sagged and grumbled out a soft: 'fine,' before the fight started. And thankfully, neither man had the chance to continue their ongoing battle as the floo exploded with noise, and a high pitched voice caused them all to cringe.

"Severus Snape! What sort of message with that?!"

Poppy Pomfrey had arrived.

* * *

Nami waved away her list, feeling relieved. After the dying incident, her soulmate had far fewer options to select, and it seemed she'd reached a peaceful moment in her life. This allowed Nami to relax, and hopefully earn back the points she'd spent saving their life. Long ago, Nami had learned that a soulmate could be revived multiple times from premature death. With each death, the cost increased depending on the damage of the lethal injury taken and the number of times you'd saved them. Nami was also practical enough not to want to go through that panic again, even if Luffy would likely launch into the sea as many times as it took to help. So she'd be giving herself quite a nest egg of points for the future.

Shaking off her thoughts, Nami continued onward along the dirt path of her home island. Laid out before her was the place she considered her prison. The place she'd learned to swim by force, where she'd discovered how to use CPR, where Nami had bloodied her fingers on a hundred maps that she had no wish to make. The place she decided to stop fighting for her soulmate… the place she would have lost them if Luffy hadn't fallen from the sky to save her.

But this time, this time, she wasn't walking toward it as a prisoner. No, she was a spy awaiting her backup, and that made a world of difference.

_"Eh? Why does Nami have to go alone!"_

_"Because… because… uh… why again, Nami?"_

_"Because Zoro needs medical help from an actual doctor, and if I'm late, then Arlong will kill someone from my village so… basically, you'll go visit the Doctor, and I'll keep him calm until you can come."_

_"I don't like it!"_

_"Just do it, Moron-Captain!"_

Nami pushed open the doors and felt the terror building in her chest. She looked at the demons of her life, the beings that could kill the strongest warriors with their great strength. Those from the Grand-line itself who'd kill Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji- No. No, they could handle this, Zoro had faced Mihawk without flinching, Luffy had shattered Krieg's armor, Usopp had protected Kaya. They'd be fine.

And yet she was scared.

"Nami, welcome back."

He sat like a mockery of a king before her, surrounded by his men like they were on vacation. Half of them were drunk on their human drinks, which they claimed to despise. Still, as it did the first time, his voice sent chills down her spine. She could do this, she could do this. Nami would save her village, she'd protect her precious people, Luffy would come once Zoro was-

"Is that him then?"

Nami shrieked; she launched to the side in alarm, looking back and to her left. Standing there with that stupid expression on his face, was Luffy. Straw hat perched on his head, a smile etched across his face, still open wounds from his fight with Krieg on his hands. Her moronic captain.

Why had she expected him to do as told, she was as stupid as he was!

"Breathe witch."

She gasped again as Zoro dropped his arm on top of his head. Her own crisscrossing stitches still holding his wounds closed- he hadn't gone to a doctor. Panicked frustration built in her chest, protectively, defensively, she rounded on him, forgetting for a moment the shark now at her back.

"You idiot!" she hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking it off her head, holding it, she pushed him back slightly. He let her, to appease her anger, to avoid further pain from his wounds or just because he felt like it. Zoro backed off smirking, but his true attention never left the enemy as hers did. "You're hurt, you're going to get yourself killed-" anything but that, these people couldn't-

"Nami-swan! Not to worry! We'll handle these villains for you without injury!" Sanji tossed Zoro away from her and got in her space, giving her a good view of Usopp standing behind and whose legs were visibly shaking. At that, she nearly dropped her head into her hands to groan. But in the end, it was probably better to be underestimated.

"Is that him?!" Luffy demanded again, "Which one of you is Arlong!"

Well, she'd decided to trust these four. She'd joined this crew, accepted their help. If she was going to die… then she would die with them. Nami had chosen her path.

"It's him." She pointed loosely as her boys flanked her, "the ugly bastard with the saw nose."

Arlong left his chair, tauntingly he towered over them. It was a position of power. For once Nami wasn't intimidated, knowing what she did about Arlong and Luffy both, she would be nervous to have Luffy glaring at her rather than the demon of her childhood. But, of course, that was no surprise. Luffy was going to be the pirate king, one day he'd rule the seas, and beings like Arlong wouldn't be able to handle him even looking their way.

Nami twisted her staff in her hand; she knew all their weaknesses, knew their strength, knew which ones didn't train, and slept all day thinking no one would ever come and challenge them. They could handle this.

Luffy punched his fists together and stepped forward, leading them: "Arlong! I'm going to beat you up!"

* * *

Their wounds were slightly more numerous than previous battles.

A reopened chest wound on Zoro with an additional slice crisscrossing the injury, thankfully shallower than what Mihawk did. Usopp received a broken nose quickly healed by Kaya. He'd then regaled his soulmate with a four-hour conversation all about the Fishman he'd defeated and the island he'd helped save, all true to her surprise. Sanji had ended up with a lung infection, a painfully bruised shin bone, and a nasty head wound. None of which Sanji complained about as he danced all over the island to sample her islands specialty foods. Nami had personally been stabbed in the arm, but it hadn't been healed because she wanted to keep it. While Luffy suffered several stab wounds that had been healed hours later, her captain bounced all over the place as the hero of the island for defeating the tyrant of a decade.

Arlong was defeated. The corrupt marines had been turned in, and Nami finally realized that everyone on her home island knew precisely what she'd been doing all this time. On top of that, the civilians of the island arrived en mass to witness Arlong's defeat. They had trusted in her and trusted in the Straw-hat's victory because of her.

She was free, but mentally she was still catching up at that as the island exploded in a victorious party.

Nami took a long swig of her drink while kicking her legs, and she debated how to answer Usopp's question. "I… I've never bought a hint before." She hadn't the points before, and when she'd gotten them, she'd spent all them on helping her soulmate. She had been paying back everything they had done for her. Now though, she was up again from her soulmates temporary death… so she could.

"Never?" Usopp sounded surprised, but of course, he would be, he actually knew his soulmate. He'd found her early on and could now communicate with her every day as a result. Nami knew he spent much of every night chatting with Kaya all about his day and often brought them all messages from the kind woman. "I spent some the second I could, all little hints." Usopp tapped his fingers absently. He could remember every single hint he'd gotten about Kaya, and it was one of the few things he'd never lied about.

"Blonde hair, pale skin, depressed, orphan…" he added sadly. "Kaya got some about me too, curled hair, excellent aim, liar." He snorted slightly 'long nose' was what made her suspicious."

Nami cocked her head at her crew-mate, thinking of the pair of them, Kaya and Usopp, and how well they matched. Both following their dreams despite being the ocean apart, a choice they agreed with the night after Kuro's defeat. "…will you tell me the story of how you met?" Nami requested gently, and Usopp puffed up his chest lips tilting up at the memory.

"Of course!" Usopp took his typical story pose, "I had already been visiting her for a few years by then, telling Kaya stories to cheer her up ya know? But I didn't realize she was my soulmate, not then anyway. She was just someone I liked and was drawn too… I mean, it's a big world out there and the chances that we lived on the same island and knew each other, bit astronomical that."

Nami nodded along, and Usopp continued.

"So, I was telling Kaya a story about two legendary soulmates. A pair of pirates who challenged the world to keep their forbidden love alive, and she suggested we both buy hints… she told me later she'd been a bit suspicious thanks to the story and her other hints. She realized they all matched me, but she wasn't sure because I hadn't said anything." He smiled fondly, and Nami swallowed away the thickness in her throat; what she wouldn't give to love someone like that, "so we did… and I got, 'right in front of you.' And she got the exact same hint. It was almost like Fate had enough of our dancing around each other." Usopp cast his eyes skyward. He lifted his hand to open his communication page, after that story, he couldn't resist sending Kaya a message filled with his love of her. It was spontaneous, but he knew it would make her smile just as her encouragement had been perfectly timed for his battle with Chu.

"So, we talked about it, and she brought me inside her room. Even then, though, Kuro had been controlling, so we agreed to keep what we were secret. She wanted to let our relationship grow before we told anyone, and… it wasn't like anyone would believe me anyway, so I agreed," he tilted his head, "you guys arrived a few months later."

"Is it hard being away from her?"

Usopp frowned deeply: "it's… weird, I suppose. I can still talk to her and-" he blushed, "-do things with points, which is impossible to time since I share a room with three other guys! But we both agreed I'd follow my dream… still, I miss her, the ability to just… reach out and know she was there instead of a whole ocean away." He bit his lip and subtly wiped at his eyes, "honestly, I think it's better I know she's there, and we can still talk, then not knowing who she was at all. So I hope, even if your, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy's soulmates stay on their own islands, that you meet them."

Nami scoffed and turned away so he couldn't see her pensive expression: "well, mine will join us. But who knows what kind of soulmate the demonic three will have."

Usopp laughed, trying to picture the people who'd be perfectly matched to Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy… and couldn't. "What if they've already met them?"

"Sanji hasn't," Nami said with confidence, but Luffy and Zoro… it was possible.

"Let's ask." Usopp decided and started waving toward Luffy, who was closest. He happened to be passing by, wandering through the area with an enormous drumstick in both hands and a euphoric expression on his face. "Hey, Luffy! Did you meet your soulmate yet?" No prep for the question, Usopp just went for it. Which really seemed to be the best method when it came to Luffy.

Luffy bounced to a stop beside them and squatted, then he shook his head; "no nope, they're a mystery still!"

"Did you buy any hints?" Nami wondered while debating how she could stop Usopp from asking Zoro, she had a feeling she didn't want to know if he'd met his or not.

Luffy nodded energetically and lifted a hand listing off; "he has dark hair and spots-"

"Spots?" they echoed, shocked.

"-and he has tattoos and insom-ia, and… he's a pirate!"

Nami and Usopp stared and realized quickly that Luffy had been spending a lot of points on bigger hints, which was giving them a very firm image of Luffy's soulmate. Nami noted the last bit. If he was a pirate, he might have a wanted poster that they could use to find… some spotted person.

"Insomnia." Usopp corrected as she thought that, "it means he doesn't sleep much."

Luffy shrugged and wolfed down one of the drum-sticks, "he's a mystery person still, but when I find him, he'll join the crew!"

Nami dropped her head into her hand, fondly: "just like my soulmate, huh?"

"Nami's soulmate too! And Sanji's, and…" he paused, glancing at Usopp before suddenly yelling: "oh! Sanji has something interesting!" Their captain rushed off, and Nami wondered if his leaving off Zoro had something to do with her theories. She wanted to ask if Luffy knew the truth, whatever it was. All Nami currently had was a theory that built as not one of Zoro's wounds healed when even Sanji had lost a few.

Usopp, deciding to dismiss Luffy's soulmate, returned to the topic of Nami's: "So, why don't you buy a hint now?" he suggested, and… why not? Arlong was no longer a concern, she was free of him. Free to make her own choices, to buy her own hints, and continue to earn points to help that stranger.

"A small one then." She decided, opening her options and scrolling to a small hint, a mere ten points. It was extraordinarily cheap, odd because it had cost far more before then. Selecting her option Nami tapped 'accept' to spend the points, then watched as energy twisted in front of her face and popped out a single word.

"'mermaid.'" She read utterly confused, "what?!"

Usopp equally confused tilted his head: "maybe they're a mermaid? Or your meeting has something to do with one?" he made a face, "or they could be around a mermaid right now… maybe a big hint would be better?"

"Mermaid… seriously?" Nami huffed angrily. Why had she gotten such a hint after the day she'd had, what even was the points system! Someone had to be messing with her. "No, I'll save for now. Just in case she dies again!"

"Wait… she?" Usopp jerked in surprise, "she's a she?"

Nami heaved a sigh: "yes, Usopp… she's a she, that a problem?"

"Nope." A wicked expression raced across his face, "but I cannot wait till Sanji finds that out."

* * *

"Don't forget the tent! You don't know if you'll be able to find shelter!"

"I know Hermione; I packed it…."

"And books! Just in case you need to learn a new spell, here I bought you and Holly a few on enchanting! You'll never know when they could be useful."

"Thanks, Hermione…"

"Oh! And this, backup clothes in different styles! A new world might dress completely differently than we do here."

"… yeah… right."

Holly flexed her hand under her pillow as Ron and Hermione packed. It seemed all three of them were in very different spots mentally about leaving their world. Hermione was the most excited, this was because she no longer had a tie to their world after the war ended. The school was not doing a repeat year for seventh-year students, and the ministry was scrambling to fix itself up after Voldemort's fingers had been within it. Countless people had been arrested, numerous more positions had to be filled. Yet despite Kingsley hired on as the Minister for magic, Hermione could not get a job without her Newts. Newts she'd have to take in the ministry after self-study, Newts given in the ministry once the system was fixed up, which would take years.

Basically, Muggleborns and anyone missing their seventh year were screwed for a while if you wanted anything outside a casual shop job. On top of that, Hermione could not reverse the memory charm she'd placed on her parents to protect them. They would never again remember her. Hermione threw herself into preparing, into packing for the unknown soulmate that existed a world away and tried to get Holly and Ron to join her excitement.

Ron, on the other hand, was packing at her insistence but didn't want to. Many of his brothers had offered him a job, something to tie him to the world on top of family, something he could use to support himself in the future. From the twin's shop to assisting Charlie or Bill at their jobs. Even Arthur was pulling strings trying to keep his youngest son close. The fact, however, remained, Ron intended to leave, but accepting that it was actually happening now was a challenge.

Holly, on the other hand, was not packing, but also did not want to stay. Kingsley, the public, the order, the ministry, the staff at Hogwarts, everyone wanted something from her. They wanted her to be the public figure against the death eaters at large. To be an Auror making the sheep feel safe. They wanted her to teach defense, so they finally had a professor that would last beyond a year. Everyone was pulling at her, demanding a piece of her, telling her she had to do this.

Holly wanted nothing to do with it. Even if she didn't have the escape out of the world, she never intended to teach, be an Auror, or remain in the magical world. Yes, it was the place she was born in, the place Holly had given her life for, but it wasn't truly hers. The unknown world of her soulmates drew her far more than the people who put her on a pedestal, called her the girl who lived, then abandoned her because she could speak to snakes or because Fudge lied. She cared nothing for those who kept demanding she fix the problem and did nothing to protect themselves, then blamed her for the deaths that occurred.

She wanted to leave. To take her chance in obscurity, where she lived in a world where no one knew her damned name.

Holly would miss the Weasley's, Remus, and Snape, who had managed to get out of his Azkaban sentence with her testimony. She'd miss Ron and Hermione who'd live a whole world away. Where their only possibility of communication lay in a mirror Sirius, Remus, and her father had crafted when they'd been fourteen years old. But most of all, she'd miss her god-father.

She didn't want to leave him even if she knew she would.

"Holly, did you pack your mirror?"

"Yes, Hermione." She pressed her face further into her pillow thinking of the matching one Sirius had presented her several days previously. He'd given it a massive power boost, using Remus to test it across considerable distances to ensure they still worked. He'd smiled then, fondly presenting her with her last Christmas gift all the whole trying to hide how heart-broken he was. His fingers had clutched the matching mirror as she held her own.

"Moony and I have been working on it, it's an upgraded version of what we used as kids. If you say my name into it, it'll connect to the mirror I have. Like those Muggle cell phones… I was hoping they'd work across worlds… so I can still see you even when you're… gone. We tested them across continents, and they still work so… maybe?

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Hermione gushed, "can you imagine! A whole new world."

"Yeah…" she answered, unable to keep eye contact. But was it the right choice?

* * *

A world way, Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami placed their heels on a barrel as the wind sped through their hair. The water sprayed at their skin, and the Grand-Line stretched out before them. Together they swore to complete their dreams, to be the freest there was, and to live. The barrel cracked under their heels as they did so. While in that same moment, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Holly Potter stood in the living room of Grimmauld place. With bottomless bags on their shoulders and teary relatives wishing them the absolute best.

Ron had said his goodbyes and tried to hide the tears rushing down his face as his mother desperately tried to cling to her youngest son, leaving her for good. Hermione rubbed her hands together, nervous but excited as she convinced herself that this was her best choice. While Holly tried not to notice how desperately Sirius was trying to hold himself together for her. As he put her needs in front of his own and smiled as he prepared to lose her forever.

Together, the three of them stepped forward in a triangle. They were ready, they were packed, their goodbyes had been said.

"Are you ready?" Holly asked them. This moment, it was almost ritualistic. The golden trio standing together with the war over and the future before them.

"I'm ready." Hermione gripped tight to her bag, she was, she definitely was.

"I think so." Molly was crying behind him, Arthur was comforting her, the twins were making jokes about what might happen, Ginny was avoiding eye-contact, Percy had actually come… and Bill and Charlie were supportively stoic.

Holly nodded to them both, the first friends she'd ever made. The people she'd died to protect, the two she may never see again. Carefully Holly reached forward and placed her hand between them. A split second later, Ron's hand landed on top of hers, then Hermione followed suit.

"Let's do it then." She stated and reached up, opening her options. Countless points, a number too high for the system to even calculate lay before her. She'd saved the world and every life in it. Holly would never need for points again.

Opposite her, Hermione and Ron followed suit. All three of them reaching forward at the same time to select the option then.

"Goodbye," Hermione whispered.

"You better call me," Ron stated firmly.

"I… love you guys." She told them both and energy surged. Ron hit accept, and his world twisted away, to the viewers frantically wishing him goodbye it looked like he'd simply apparated. But he'd never return to their sides again. Hermione was a split second behind, with terror in her chest and Gryffindor courage moving her hand she slammed down on accept and vanished with tears in her eyes.

And Holly was left standing there staring into the face of her god-father.

And she couldn't do it.

A moment passed as Molly wailed, and she stared at Sirius, and she still couldn't do it. In the end, it was Sirius who had to break the silence between them with a forceful smile.

"Pup?" Sirius asked, trying to keep up his smile, to act fine. "Aren't you going? They're waiting for you."

"No," She breathed in realization. She couldn't abandon Sirius like this, she couldn't… she- "No, I'm finding another option." She stepped toward him, "I can't do this without you. So we can find something else, some other way… I want to go together."

"Pup." Sirius firmed his resolve, "this is your only option to find that girl of yours. She's out there waiting for you, and this world… it doesn't need you, it doesn't deserve you. You should go. You'll be happier there, freer there."

"No." Holly stepped away from the triangle, unwilling to admit that she was scared. Some Gryffindor she was, Holly couldn't do what Ron and Hermione had. She couldn't leave Sirius, she didn't want to be alone again, not again. "Sirius… I need you, I need my dad." And she confessed the truth shattering the resolve he'd been trying so hard to keep.

Sirius sagged, wiping at his face to hide the emotional tears of relief that had escaped. A moment later, he surged forward, then she was in his arms. Resting in her god-fathers grip her options twisted like some kind of cruel test that she seemed to have passed, Holly's eyes flew open as she stared at her new choice and knew the gods were watching her.

_'Travel worlds, +1.'_

Holly burst out laughing and reached up for it: "are you ready to go, Sirius? With me?" he pulled back slightly, still holding her shoulders and gave her a confused look. "The gods offered me a plus one… apparently." But of course they did, the point system worked on desire. To be healed, you had to want to be, if you didn't want to lose a scar or have a wound healed, then it wouldn't happen. So, because of how dearly she wished to keep Sirius with her and because of how much he wanted to join her. The gods allowed it to happen all the while costing her a fortune, which, to Holly, was a mere blink to the unlimited number points she had for saving the world.

"Let's do it," Sirius said, "while the gods are still offering it."

"Lets." She agreed, making sure she was holding Sirius tight so that he would not be pulled from her. Holly tapped the option and accepted it.

And the world she'd died for twisted away, never to be seen by her eyes again.


	9. Chapter 9

Sirius' laughed overjoyed and unbelievable. Hands on his knees dripping water down his nose, he gasped as tears of mirth sprung from his eyes. He stood with his feet in crystal clear, beautiful oceanic water and pure white sand from the tropics. The sun kissed his skin, warmth in the air rinsing away the long standing ice in his soul. Years he'd spent after escaping feeling chilled, no matter how far he ran from Azkaban, it clung to him, but suddenly it felt like… like he could breathe.

Magic, he realized in distant awe. Dementors possessed a magic that had drug on his very soul, and so long as they existed, their grip remained. It didn't matter how much chocolate he ate or how far he ran, no matter how warm he tried to make himself. Because of the dementors' touch, Sirius would always feel cold. Would have. Until he stepped through worlds, and the connection they had on him snapped. He was free of them.

Sirius felt his eyes water as he stretched his body upward hands, reaching for the sun as his feet stretched in his boots. He wanted dearly to kick them off and go flying into the water heedless of how wet he'd get… and Sirius could. He stooped low and rushed to untie the mess forgetting for once he could have just used a spell to do so. Only, as he hurled his boots away and flying back into the water, did he catch sight of his god-daughter, and real amusement caused him to snort.

Holly looked like a drowned cat. Her hair was clinging to her face, her waterlogged robes were covered in thick sand, and she was trying desperately to shuck them off. Holly had already dumped her waterlogged bag to the sand as she struggled and… there was a star-fish in her hair.

Sirius cackled as he stepped forward and attempted to pull the thing from her hair as she finally escaped her robes to angrily toss them to the ground. "Shut up, Sirius!" she said without real heat as she finally got hold of her wand to attempt to dry herself. She succeeded, just in time for a wave to crash into them soaking her once more.

Holly pressed her lips together as Sirius collapsed, unable to breathe from laughing and rolled her eyes. At least he was amused. He didn't have to cart the backpack to shore, he got to transform into a canine and swim while she struggled. Landing in a new world, they'd appeared several feet above the ocean and had been dumped there. Sirius had instantly transformed while Holly had been stuck sputtering. It wasn't her fault she barely knew how to swim, the Dursley's had never deemed it important she learn. Holly's only experience existed because of the tournament. Not to mention Holly's clothing meant for bloody winter absorbed water like crazy, unlike Sirius' thinner clothing.

Drying her robes a second time, Holly left the ocean and stuffed it into her bottomless bag… which probably had a ton of water inside it now. She sighed and cast a spell to remove the water from within as she stripped layers. It was hot in this world, and she wasn't used to being so warm. Already she was drenched in sweat, and Merlin, she was glad Hermione insisted she pack all sorts of clothing.

Holly went about changing even as Sirius ran up and down the beach, uncaring of what he was wearing. She cast him a look noting he was collecting shells and had found a- "look Pup! It's a snail!" he held up a bizarre looking creature that seemed to be bright red with a shell of gold. "Gryffindor colors! I'm keeping him!"

"As a pet?" Holly asked.

They had been dropped in the ocean beside an island from the looks of it. Palm trees shot up to the sky as a large forest stood before her. The temperature was hot and wet, a tropical island clearly, and a drastic difference to what she was used to in London. She looked at it, at the wilderness instead of any sign of a village, Holly felt a surge of disappointment.

"Oh, what's that face for?" Sirius popped up beside her with the snail perched on his shoulder. He looked thrilled with the new change, ready to explore while Holly who'd finally traveled worlds, was pouting.

"It's nothing." She lifted the backpack onto her shoulders, feeling better already in the shorts and t-shirt, both Hermione's.

Sirius eyed her already assuming the problem: "you expected to end up right in front of her, didn't you."

Holly made a noise in her throat, which might have been a denial, but they both knew better. Sirius watched as Holly cast a point-me spell for nearby people and started off down the beach line her sandals sinking in the sand unpleasantly to her. Sirius gave her a second as she walked ahead, he took the time to transfigure and dry his own soaked clothing before catching up. Several steps down the beach he said: "If that was the case, then you'd have no need for hints. 'Finding your soulmate isn't that easy, you have to work for it.'"

"Are you quoting someone?" she eyed him but calmed slightly. That made sense; if she did end up right in front of her soulmate, then they would be no need for her many bought hints over the years.

"It was… your dad, actually."

Rocks started to appear along the beach, and Holly caught sight of old looking boats along the shore. Every one was sunk, massive gaping holes showed the reason they were on the water, but how so many had been destroyed along the coast wasn't clear. Holly glanced at them curiously but dismissed the collection as the distant sound of a village hit her ears. "He said that?" She wanted to know more, but she always did. She knew so few things about her parents, and Sirius was one of the few that could tell her… the only one now that she'd never their resting place behind.

Holly's step faltered a moment as she realized she hadn't visited them, hadn't told them she was going… Sirius hadn't even told Remus either, and he was Remus' last living friend-

"He did!" Sirius unaware of her darkening thoughts announced. "You're mum always resisted him despite all their hints matching. I swear, Alice told us she got a clue that literally said 'Pot,' and she still denied it." Holly's lips quirked up as the outline of a village appeared, it was small, akin to Hogsmead in size. "I asked him why he was putting so much effort into it since she resisted him so much, and he told me something his mum told him."

"My grandmother?!" Holly stopped dead on the beach, she spun on Sirius. He likely didn't know that Holly knew nothing about the woman, not even her name. This was- this connection- he had no idea how much those words suddenly meant to her.

Still walking, Sirius said: "he said it then, that a soulmate wasn't just given to you. They were someone precious and while meant for you… they're their own person. Finding them isn't easy, it shouldn't be. You have to work for it, so when you finally meet them…" he glanced back at her almost brokenly, "then they'll know how much you worked for it."

They stared at each other, deep in thought. Though of James chasing Lily up, down, left and right across the halls of Hogwarts. Of the warning flashing over Sirius's vision as his time ran out, and there was nothing he could do. Of a woman wandering through the very world Holly stood in now.

"Then again." Sirius continued, "I'm pretty sure she said that because she won Fleamont over by kidnapping him and wanted James to kidnap Lily. I agreed, they were really in need of being locked in a room together until they finally talked."

Holly exhaled her eyes, shooting for the sky. "What do you meant she kidnapped my grandfather."

"Oh, now that's a story. Okay! It started with Charlus actually, that's your great-uncle."

Sirius told her a story which had to be complete nonsense as they reached the village outskirts and headed in. The town was unlike anything Holly had ever seen before in her life. Tech that looked like some bizarre cross between Muggle and magical. Torches, instead of streetlights, no sign of TV but what appeared to be a snail for a phone. A snail that resembled the one perched on Sirius's shoulders. Clothing that was far more Muggle in nature except the style was utterly alien in competing shades and textures.

"On the upside, it looks like our clothes won't draw unnecessary attention." She muttered, her shorts and shirt colors match looked tame to what she was seeing around her. While Sirius's thin robe and punk style also matched quite well. Going off the clothes, Holly instead thought that full magical robes would fit in as well, if not for the high temperature.

On the downside, the language was clearly different. Both written and spoken was nothing Holly had heard before, Hermione was correct, they'd need to learn a new one. Thank Merlin Holly had made an effort to learn the spell that assisted with such an act.

Flicking her wand Holly tapped her head, noting no one blinked at the stick. She cast the complicated little spell, it would take in spoken language around her and steadily build up a translation. Eventually, it would automatically translate the words for Holly as it was spoken, but that would take some time. After casting it on herself, she reached up and trapped Sirius' forehead giving him the same benefit. The spell had an extra bonus of learning collectively, so if… if Hermione and Ron ended up in this world and cast it as well, their spells would link and learn all the faster. If...

"I wonder if they have a world map." Sirius said, peering in the nearby windows to a collection of shops. He spotted odd and familiar food and drinks, clothing, books, and the like but nothing that resembled a map.

"Even if they did, they take a different currency here." Several locals gave her a confused look not understanding her English. She eyed a man's hand as he handed over some paper money for a bizarre fruit. "I'll need some if I'm going to copy it."

"Oh! Theft!" Sirius wiggled his brows at Holly and she bit back a smile. "Dibs! You be the distraction!"

"We could just summon some…"

"Boring! I want to try and pick a pocket, sounds like fun."

"…are you at least going to use a disillusion charm?"

"Never!"

Holly sighed as they continued exploring. At the same time, Holly mentally went over her list of hits. She had the unfortunate feeling she'd be hunting for her soulmate for a significant amount of time unless something obvious jumped out at her. On top of that, there was quite a lot she and Sirius needed to learn about the new world.

On the upside, at least the humans looked human. She'd consider that a blessing.

* * *

It was a commonly known fact that Hermione Jean Granger did not like the fly. However, even if she did not, she was undoubtedly glad her best friend in the world insisted upon the fact that she carry a broom.

Leaving her world had been exciting. For all that Hermione loved her books, loved to learn, she was a Gryffindor at heart. She craved adventure like the stories she inhaled during her childhood. She wanted to see sights no one ever would, venture out, and find peace. When given the opportunity, when offered that chance to venture out, there truly wasn't much that could have stopped her. Her only ties to that world, that place had been her parents - who no longer and would never remember her - and her friends who likewise would leave.

She hadn't hesitated to go. Not once.

She was a Gryffindor, she didn't fear the unknown, she only wanted to learn about it.

Hermione selected her option and left Earth behind. She felt the world twisting around her, squeezing like an apparation before she was spat out. Several thousand feet above water level with nothing but open air beneath her. It was for this fact that Hermione was pleased to say she had obeyed Holly's whim and carried a broom on hand. If she had not, Hermione Jean Granger would have died long before she found her soulmate.

Yanking the broom from her pockets, Hermione stopped her descent. Sitting elegantly on the wood, she stared around at the new world at knew instantly it was different. The air was electrified and clean, fresher without the pollution she had grown up with. Hermione inhaled deeply and looked outward. The ocean spread out endlessly before her, pure water and clear skies.

"Beautiful," Hermione said, quickly fishing her hand into her purse to pull out her camera. She wanted to keep a journal about her discoveries in this new world just as Sirius' Black ancestor had. Who knew it might benefit in the future. She snapped a picture and turned to take a picture of the other side of the world and gasped.

Up, up, up, Hermione looked. A mass of land, a cliff-side farther and higher than she could see lay behind her. Made of red stone, no doubt heavy in iron, it stretched out across the horizon like the Great Wall of China. It was split by an enormous waterfall. She snapped a picture quickly. "What a bizarre plot of land… how did this form." She looked upward, wondering if the greater landmass was flat above the clouds or if it was indeed a wall.

She had just decided to go up and explore when a small ship appeared from the clouds. The vessel passed Hermione at a swift speed, hurtling toward the ocean floor. On its deck, Hermione caught sight of a small group of people with unnaturally colored hair, and she didn't hesitate to pursue them with her broom. As she did, an alien sound hit the air like a… whale? She scanned the ocean floor and spotted it a whale that positively dwarfed the ship and its crew.

"Blue whale… no its larger than that." She kicked to a stop when the ship moving to crash shot a canon at the whale. An intelligent move the action slowed them so they wouldn't crash. "Species appear to be similar… where is my dictation quill!?"

She fished out her supplies and sent them to float beside her, copying her words word as she spoke them.

"The crew seems to be five in number, smaller than I expected for crew any ship but clearly capable of doing so. They appear human in appearance, but their hair colors are unlike Earth's, brighter somehow. Is it natural? Or do hair dyes exist in this world." She floated closer as the ship slowly passed the whale's enormous eye. She caught sight of green hair, but no shade as her own soulmate was suggested to have. But there was orange as Holly's was supposed to possess.

Hermione described what she was seeing and wondered if it was possible. That the worlds were so small. "Could it be this is Holly's soulmate? I suspect not, the worlds are large and vast, and orange hair surely cannot be so uncommon. And yet I cannot put aside the thought, what if she is? I… will have to check-" Hermione cut off with a gasp when the whale suddenly turned aggressive and attacked. In a moment the whale inhaled the ship before Hermione's very eyes leaving behind a single member of the crew thrown her way-

"Ack!" Her pen wrote her scream down as Hermione flailed as the teenager swung toward her. On a whim, she grabbed for him just as he grabbed for her, and she caught him as the whale's mouth snapped closed.

It swallowed the ship.

And two voices screamed in shock and horror.

* * *

Orange fabric. He- his body-

_"Tell no one."_

Paw pads and fabric claws that would hold nothing. Ron stared into the glass window at a cloth mane and beady button eyes.

_"Obey-"_

Ron felt his body moving without his control, felt himself turn with a fabric smile as a child approached wanting to play, and slammed on his occlumency shields. His mind tore, a supernatural ability warring with his magic, magic trying to defend him. Ron's body jerked violently, and he snarled, the child recoiled in alarm and fled, crying for her parents. He felt guilty for that, regretted frightening the kid, but it couldn't be avoided.

_"Play with the-"_

He forced his paws to move, stole every step until he was in an alley-way until he was out of sight. His back pressed to stone as the confusing words of the locals slid passed him. He couldn't read the words, couldn't understand the language, and wouldn't either.

Ron landed in the street staggering; he appeared in the world as if he'd apparated, but it had felt a hundred times worse. Reeling he hadn't been paying attention, not as he turned to throw up and stupidly dropped his bag. The creature, small and as fast a snitch, acted the moment he wasn't looking. It stole his bag, it took his wand. Still sick with the taste of vomit in his mouth, he'd raced after it. Before bowling into the kid.

He'd apologized even as he turned his face to continue his chase when her tiny hand caught his pant leg. He'd turned, and then he hadn't been human. The kid had said something to him, whispered something in his ears, but Ron hadn't been able to understand her. Perhaps that was one of the few things that saved him.

Now he had no supplies, no wand, no understanding of the language, the world, or it's magic and… he was a stuffed lion.

"What am I going to do." He pressed his paws into his mane and gripped the fabric tight… it hurt, it was real. Internally his magic continued to war with whatever the girl had done to him. Fight against the control she had over his body, and Ron wondered if he could even use wandless magic as he was. Even if he could, this had been a giant mistake. Ron never should have come to this place. He should have stayed home.

A voice spoke up above him, and Ron flinched. He twisted his head, looking up at the speaker and found a tin soldier a toy quite like the one Bill had once gifted him. It, he? Held out his hand and spoke again, and Ron grimaced.

"I can't understand you."

The soldier's head tilted as Ron's magic surged in his body, resisting the compulsion the kid put on him. It had to be a compulsion akin to the imperious for his very will was being tested to withstand it. The soldier spoke again, but Ron shook his head, he had no idea what the soldier was saying. Then the soldier's expression firmed, and he hopped forward, forcing Ron to realize the soldier had only one leg. The soldier's small hand wrapped around Ron's and tugged, forced Ron to move, to stand.

Ron allowed it. Stood up on fabric paws as the soldier dragged him hopping down the street.

He was a toy, a toy like Ron had become… so was he human like Ron had been?

Ron forced himself to walk faster to catch up with the soldier. Maybe he'd get some answers. It was better than sitting there hopeless, Ron had made his choice and had come to this world. Now he had to live with the consequences of that choice. He had to Gryffindor up.

However, as Ron Weasley thought of his family and followed after the soldier attempting to help him, the people he loved most, forgot he had ever existed. One touch had been all it took. There was no child playing chess in the common room with his two friends, no one to sit with Holly on the first day on the train. No third member of the golden trio. No seventh son to the Weasley family. And no red-haired soulmate to a dancer unaware of how close she'd been to the one her soul matched.

Ron Weasley didn't exist, and all that was left behind was a small stuffed lion with bright orange fur.


	10. Chapter 10

Seconds before, Sirius had been in the middle of a retelling one of the best pranks from his childhood. It had been in his second year with James, Remus, and the nameless and hadn't actually involved Snape. He'd chosen it to tell Holly because she was annoyingly fond of the bat, and he'd already pissed her off enough times with his' pranking Sniv' stories. He had been describing the Slytherin boy's face to James- Holly- he… he was telling her all about it, unaware of the knowing look his god-daughter was giving him. It only took a look at the glazed part of his face, and Holly knew Sirius wasn't entirely present with her. He got like that sometimes, less the longer he was out of Azkaban, but it still happened, and Holly suspected always would.

Sometimes Sirius would speak the wrong name, sometimes he'd forget where he was. Sometimes she was Lily if the light hit her right, and sometimes she was James even without the glasses that used to make her look like him. It hurt, Holly could admit that. Hermione called it all manner of terms, theorizing dementia, among others. Muggle diseases that she believed would, with age, grow worse.

_"He has no soulmate to fix it, Holly… it'll get worse, you have to accept that now."_

It was a flaw to their world and health care system Hermione passionately stated after they learned about Neville's parents. Alice and Frank were soulmates, and since both were mad, neither could help the other heal. Without that ability, the system so used to physical problems being fixed in an instant had no idea how to treat the pair. The Magical world was clueless when it came to mental issues, and only slightly better with physical ones for the young who did not have soulmates with enough points to heal. The Muggle world to that regard was better off, the sheer number of Muggles resulted in more injuries by default not being instantly treated. It was because she and Hermione were Muggleborn that they even knew what dementia and other mental issues were, but there was still no cure for them.

Sirius was like those Muggles who had lost their soulmates sometime along their path through life affected by something no one could cure. Because the only way to do it was long gone. And as Hermione said, Holly just needed to accept that sometimes Sirius would get her name very wrong. That, she knew she could handle, but the silent realization that genuinely terrified her. Sirius and Holly were together now, he'd be around for a long time, and she'd see him grow older. Someday he'd have no idea who she was, and that made her short of breath.

Trying to get her mind off it as Sirius spoke on Holly glanced around at the villagers around her. It was a quiet place, happy, and the people seemed entirely too delighted that she and Sirius were visiting. Most greeted and waved in their direction as if they were a novelty that someone was touring their little town. She scanned the area and smiled at the very people who caught her eye. It was nice to not be recognized, no one here had a clue who she was. There was no hero worship, no anger glares, no people going for their wands to attack her because of the bounty on her head. How strange it was to just be one of the crowd, Holly had forgotten what it was like.

"Hey, Sirius- Sirius?" Holly turned to say something to Sirius immediately forgetting what once she caught the expression on his face. He looked like a dog in a hunt, like Ripper when he'd seen a squirrel in the backyard. His attention was utterly focused on a nearby hill, there was something odd as he took a step forward seemingly not aware he'd done it.

"Sirius?" she repeated as they drew attention from the people around. Sirius didn't twitch, not acknowledging Holly's presence at all as he stared at the seemingly dull hill. It really was nothing special, a pathway into the trees, and a smoke trail at the top. There would be a house up there Holly assumed, but nothing about it should have drawn Sirius' attention so firmly. She turned back to him and saw, was that guilt?

Sirius bolted, his form shifted in an instant as he landed on four paws and took off toward the hill. Holly heard the yelps of the people watching clearly not expecting a human to transform into a canine. Holly gave a cry and chased after her god-father never giving thought to obliviate the people that had seen and what the cost could be that they did. She didn't think things through like Hermione did, she was reactive most of the time and so reacted when her father bolted for the hill. Ankles rolling on the dirt pathway Holly sprinted up the slope, which clearly wasn't designed for vehicles, let alone people.

The thicker trees quickly gave way to what appeared to be a tree farm for oranges. A small cottage lay to the side, smoking flowing from a chimney; the area overlooked a cliff-side, and the ocean laid out beyond. Holly instantly liked it on principle. Sirius faltered as he reached the trees, his canine body glancing all over while Holly stopped the moment the house was in sight. Something deep within her found all this… familiar. Like she knew this place, intimately. Her skin crawled but not in a bad way, more like she'd heard a beautiful song, and she'd gotten goose-bumps from it.

A smell was on the air as Holly finally moved forward. While not Molly's cooking, it still smelled fantastic. She would always remember the last meal she'd eaten with the three- two? With her, Hermione, and… Ginny? Holly staggered as her magic rolled in her chest. Like a wave, it brutally stuck as if placed under an imperio and had been given an order. Then the next moment, she felt fine… nothing was wrong… everything was fine- wait, no that felt-

Sirius transformed, sliding into human form, causing Holly to refocus on him. In three long strides, Sirius reached the door to the cottage and firmly knocked. Holly caught up, her heart skipping a beat as a woman's voice called out: "One minute!"

She reached the door a second before it opened and was immediately disappointed. The woman's hair was a beautiful blue and her eyes a darker color, almost green. She had tanned skin, a red hairband in her hair, and a swirling tattoo on her arm - the wrong one anyway. She also looked as confused as Holly was.

"Yes, can I help you?" Her words translated in Holly's years with only a minor delay as the spell adjusted.

As she spoke, Holly instinctively glanced at Sirius, who had been the one to bring them to her front door. Sirius stood at her side, mutely staring at the girl as if his entire world was crashing to the ground. Holly pinched her lips together; what on earth - or not earth? - was happening.

"Err, sorry," Holly said, attempting to take charge of the odd situation. She also hoped her spell was causing her to speak correctly. From the mild confusion, then suddenly clarity it was working, if behind a line or so. "My father and I-" Sirius sucked in a sharp breath, and Holly distantly remembered that she'd never called him that in front of him before. She'd really only done it in the safety of her own mine… but she supposed he wouldn't be overly bothered. "-he felt the need to come up here, something was drawing him… us?"

Holly side-eyed Sirius again, hoping he could explain, she really didn't know what had come over him.

"Y-you…" Sirius tried and swallowed throat too dry to push words through. Clearing it, he managed: "Do you have a sister with… with orange hair?"

Both the woman and Holly blinked to that, both turned to stare at him with sudden curiosity. Holly wasn't sure why the woman did it, but orange hair always perked her attention, even in passing, considering that her own soulmate possessed it.

"Why do you ask?" the woman practically confirmed it despite the sudden defensive hostility on her tone. Her eyes scanned Sirius and Holly both, looking for something Holly couldn't discern. She'd learn later it was any sign of a white and blue uniform on their person.

"She had two daughters." Sirius' voice was haunted, eyes darker than Holly had seen them since Azkaban or perhaps even worse. His hands shook as he lifted them to wrap them around his body, he clung to himself as if it would remove the chill that settled into his soul. Holly felt pale as the implications of those words sank in her head. Without a sound, or care to see how the woman would react, she turned and flicked her wand behind them. Holly's Patronus leaped into being, and she hoped it would be enough.

To her credit, the woman whose life they had barged into, didn't even blink as magic was performed in front of her. No, her attention was wholly and utterly focused on Sirius. "Who did?" she demanded, wanting confirmation as much as Holly, or perhaps much more.

Sirius swayed slightly, seeing something that neither woman could as he spoke as if quoting. "An orange farm overlooking the ocean, two daughters with blue and orange hair… hers was supposed to be red like wine, darker than blood." He sucked in a shaky breath, "she was… a marine… and her name, it had something to do with a bell. I… does that mean something to you? Does any of it mean anything?" Was he wrong? Was in mistaken? Or was he right, and somehow his very presence ruined Holly's chances to end up with her soulmate. Had his presence while they traveled, sent him and Holly both away from Holly's path. Was it wrong in his initial assumption? Were they supposed to be directly sent to Holly's soulmate after traveling worlds, but instead ended up before his.

The woman's hands flexed as she took in the pair before her with more clarity: "She never told us her hints." She said, her expression so sad as she looked at the two of them "Her name was Bell-mère, and you will tell you why you allowed her to die."

Sirius flinched back as if he'd been struck, and perhaps he had at least not physically. Holly honestly didn't know what he would have said to that, nor did she care. Not as she watched her father crumple inward as those words hit home. They honestly had found the living daughter to Sirius' soulmate, a woman who should have been Sirius' better half, should have been his happiness. A woman who should have been standing there… they should have had a chance.

Merlin. She couldn't imagine how Sirius had to be feeling, her god-father was hurting and she couldn't fathom the pain of it. Sirius was breaking in front of her very eyes and- and she wouldn't let him bare that guilt.

She stepped forward, placing herself between this mourning woman and her god-father. She positioned herself between his guilt and her grief, then spoke as calmly as she could. "We are from another world, we came from a place where monsters and magic are real." Holly gestured to her Patronus, "where creatures exist that can steal away your soul. Monsters called dementors that are used in prison, in a jail where the worst criminals are supposed to be placed."

"Pup..." Sirius managed to say as he reached for her, to stop her probably. To prevent her from trying to absolve him of the crime of getting his soulmate permanently killed because he'd been too stupid to realize Peter was a traitor.

She ignored him: "Sirius was falsely imprisoned, for twelve years he was mentally and physically tortured by those things and when she- when your mother died he was still imprisoned. He couldn't have saved her, not with the dementors pulling on him, on his soul." Sirius' hand touched her back, but she didn't look back, not as she stared at the woman before her. "He loved her, he wanted to save her, he wanted to save her."

The woman exhaled a weak breath like she was a step away from collapsing on the spot, her eyes flicking from Holly to the Patronus floating there. Then she gave Holly a weak little smile: "and here I thought he didn't have the points for it." There was a kind of forced amusement in her eyes as she continued, "but other worlds and soul-sucking monsters… that's uh… different." The aggression leaked away as she took a step back from her doorway: "I'd like some proof, and… well, why don't you come in., I have a picture of mom, of Bell-mère." She held out a hand in peace, and Holly was more than willing to accept it.

"Thank you." Holly reached back and snatched Sirius' arm tugging him inside after her. He wasn't in a great state mentally; however, she knew well that he needed this, and she wasn't letting him leave without it. So inside, they went and accepted the chairs offered. Though Holly calmly sat on her own, Sirius collapsed into his own.

"You want a drink?" She asked, "think I can use one… or twenty for this conversation."

"Please."

Accepting their drinks, they dropped into offered chairs, or collapsed in Sirius' case and settled in for what was sure to be a profoundly emotional conversation. The woman introduced herself as Nojiko, and as she settled opposite them, she began to tell them a story. The story of her late mother and the beings that killed her.

"I stopped blaming you a long time ago." Nojiko began, "well, I did truthfully until I realized what would have happened if Bell-mère truly had revived that day." Nojiko sighed hand hands linking together on her mug, "Mom was murdered by a pirate, a Fishman."

"A what?" Holly and Sirius both asked, and Nojiko frowned, reminding herself silently 'Different world, right.' "A Fishman is… a humanoid, I suppose, with aquatic animal characteristics. Arlong- her murderer was part shark, and he ruled these islands for years." A fond expression crossed her face as she gestured to a nearby poster, a wanted poster of all things. "Just a month ago, my sister brought her crew home, they saved us all and defeated Arlong."

Holly took in the picture with more focus when Nojiko said so. She looked at the rather childish features of the teenager on the image with a thousand-watt smile. He appeared to be her age at best, and he, like Holly, had saved people. Smiling slightly, Holly mentally promised that if she ever met that teenager, she'd thank him for avenging Sirius' soulmate and helping protect the children and village.

"Arlong, he came to our home nine years ago and made every living person on the island pay a tribute, a monthly fee to that we could continue living. If you didn't pay the fee, you'd were killed. Mom… Bell-mère couldn't afford it, not for all three of us." She linked her hands together to hide their shaking, "he killed her in front of us and then stood there counting." Sirius jerked his hands violently clenching his cup, much tighter, and Holly knew it would break splashing liquid all over him. She didn't warn him, too shocked as she came to the same realization he had.

"Nami… didn't… under… stand…" Holly's world shook slightly, it grew faint. Nojiko's voice, Sirius' presence, everything faded out for a moment. Her heart thudded in her chest too slowly to be her regular heart-beat, yet she didn't feel faint enough for it to truly be going at that sluggish speed. The world seemed to stop around her, everything seemed to exist differently. Something had changed; Holly's entire world felt different and yet the same. And she didn't understand what happened.

Then everything snapped back as if it never occurred. "-Nami didn't understand… neither of us did. Why would he count?" Nojiko closed her eyes pained, "I learned later that the time for revival is a hundred seconds exactly, the exact number he counted to." She still dreamed of those numbers, of his harsh voice counting while his crew laughed. "So even if you could have, you couldn't have saved her. Arlong would have just killed her again, and again, and again just to ensure she stayed dead. You… you probably caused her to suffer less in the end."

Holly could see the weight lift from Sirius' shoulders. It was a physical event that caused him to raise his body slightly and lift his gaze enough to look Nojiko in the eyes for the first time since she opened the door, and he'd seen her hair.

"I accepted it a long time ago… I had more important things to worry about than you." It was almost harsh what Nojiko said, she spoke frankly, simply, but to her, it was the truth. She had more pressing concerns than her mother's soulmate. More important things to focus on, like her and her sister's survival against the foe that killed her mother. Like the slavery Nami had been forced into, and the utter denial her sister lived in when it came to her own soulmate. Oh, Nojiko knew her sister definitely didn't think she deserved a soulmate, didn't deserve someone who healed her like wounds like they were single beri's. But Nojiko knew she did and had spent years trying to convince Nami of that fact.

It was unfortunate that as a result of Nami's self-sacrificing that Nojiko knew nothing about Nami's soulmate beyond the fact that it was a woman and wealthy in points. And so, therefore, did not recognize the black-haired, green-eyed, and obviously marked woman before her as what she was. After all, Nami, to Nojiko's knowledge, had never bought a hint before.

Nojiko, like Holly, had not found her own soulmate, so neither of them truly understood what Sirius was going through. What it must feel like to finally make sense of the hints only to be too late. To know you'd never know your soulmate laughed, how they spent, what they even looked like. It must be beyond devastating.

Sliding her eyes to the nearby window, Nojiko saw the distant grave. Only a month previously Nami had sat on that very spot preparing to go out to sea finally free from her nightmare. Nojiko turned back to the dark-haired man and offered him what she could. "Do you want to see where we buried her?"

He bowed his head and gave a single shallow nod.

"Please."

* * *

_"MY CREW!"_ the teen yelled as Hermione desperately tried to right her broom. His sudden weight and flailing caused her to nearly unseat, more so because Hermione was not a natural flier. She'd never been very good at flying, and having another frantic passage caused her to nearly careen into the ocean. Which, ironically, was very close to what her passenger wanted.

"Go!_ I need to get to my crew._ Go _to the_ whale!"

Hermione, unfortunately, understood one word in five as her spell attempted to catch up to the sudden introduction of a brand new, unheard of, language. On the upside, the teen was speaking at such a rate that Hermione knew it wouldn't be long before she could understand him in full. Still 'go,' and 'whale' was enough for the time being. Hermione had just seen a ship eaten by the biggest whale she'd ever laid eyes on.

"I hope this is like Pinocchio," Hermione begged as she grabbed the teen by the shoulders, all the while tightening her thighs on her broom, "stop moving! I can't fly like this!"

Hermione had assumed he wouldn't understand her just as she couldn't understand him. But as she spoke, a pensive expression went across his face, then he started to speak again as if he had followed her every word. But surely that was impossible? Unless he responded better to physical cues? Perhaps he could tell from her expression, or the situation, what she wanted. It was entirely possible, Holly had a habit of doing precisely that, so it wasn't a terribly strange idea to Hermione.

"Whale!" he demanded again but slowed in his movement. Hermione released his shoulders and gripped the broom righting it with a firm jerk. Carefully she then tilted the end downward to send them toward the whale staring sadly at the mountain range. The teen instantly turned and wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and pointed firmly, angrily, at the whale. He chattered something, probably a threat, as they approached. The moment they were in range, Hermione lost her passenger; the teen launched off her broom fearlessly to land with a slight bounce on the whale's back. Clearly, he didn't fear heights as she did.

The teen started to punch at the blubbery body while Hermione landed cautiously on the whale. Holding her broom close, lest the whale decided to dive, Hermione glanced around, wondering over the whale. How had it grown to be such a size? What sort and size animal did it eat to sustain its enormous body? How old was it? And what rate did it grow? Was this full-grown? She was so curious. And… was that a trap door… in a whale?!

"Hey!" she called, approaching it with a scientific eye. The boy, still nameless, yelled, and rushed over. He slid to a stop beside her, and they both peered down at the trap door, then each other, and the door once more. Thankfully for Hermione's sanity, the teen was as confused as she was over the strange doorway in the whale.

It didn't take them long to decide to open it, mere seconds really. He wanted to save his crew, and Hermione wanted to know why a whale had a trap door badly. Stashing her broom in her bottomless purse, the boy reached down and twisted the handle to open the door. It led into a low lighted tunnel as far as she could see. The boy, without pause or hesitation, jumped inside - definitely a Gryffindor that one - and Hermione boldly followed. She was a Gryffindor after all, one with a Ravenclaw's desire for learning, but a lion none the less.

Hermione dropped through the trap door as if she were eleven years old once more and following her best friend into the unknown. Hermione's mind gave a painful throb as she landed as if she had forgotten something crucial, but it passed. Straightening up, Hermione inspected her surroundings, it seemed the inside of the whale resembled a submarine. It was mechanical in nature, a hallway that seemed to have no end. Hermione revised her earlier assumption of the world's technology, perhaps this was not a whale at all.

"Just what is all this?" the teen said, glancing at her. Hermione frowned, she understood what he'd said in full. Which was brilliant but odd. Her spell should have taken twice the amount of time for the language to come across so clearly, no matter how fast the boy was speaking. How… particular.

"No idea, but we might as well explore to find out." Hermione said in return as she closed the trap door feeling the whale move, it was likely going to dive, and she didn't want water getting in. As she closed the door, she mentally went over her spell repertoire for a spell that would work for deep diving pressures. They might be needed.

"And find my Nakama!" The boy looked her way with a grin, "I'm Luffy! I'm going to be the pirate king! Who're you?"

Pirate king? He was a pirate? How interesting. "Hermione Granger, I'm… a witch looking for her soulmate."

"A witch?! Cool! Join my crew!" His eyes shone like stares in awe, a refreshing take on her words since he was sure to be a Muggle. Unless magic existed in this world, he had a word for witch after all… though she was the one to use it first. He shouldn't have understood the term. Oh. Hermione felt herself smile in suspicion, he should have used the word first for her spell to translate it. Since he hadn't, that meant the spell had learned and converted the world because someone else had used it.

There was a chance Holly might be in this world. She'd have to call as soon as possible to check!

"No thank you." Hermione answered Luffy's offer even as she came to this realization. Her view of pirates might have been ruined by the Muggle pirates she knew to exist, but Hermione had no desire to commit herself to someone so quickly. She had a goal, and she'd stop at nothing to accomplish it.

"Eh?! Why not?"

"Because that's not my goal." Hermione answered plainly. He was a incredibly straight forward guy this Luffy, with an innocence on his face that Hermione found utterly endearing. "Like I said, I'm looking for-AH!" suddenly the whole twisted sideways. She and Luffy were thrown entirely off their feet. It was so abrupt that Hermione, for all her practicing, wasn't given a chance to respond or cast anything to save herself. All she could do was fall and eventually strike whatever ground lay below her, possibly to be knocked unconscious by the walls or killed by the drop. Either might have occurred too, if not for Luffy's presence.

A texture akin to rubber snatched hold of her wrist, Luffy reacted quicker than it took Hermione to open her mouth and scream. A hand wrenched on her, pulling her into a firm chest. Arms circled her back, and her head was tucked into a chin, then the world spun. She felt each blow, each shock-wave as they struck Luffy's body, for it could only be him holding her, hit the walls of the seemingly endless hallway. They ping-pong'd away falling through the insides of a whale. Miraculously Hermione remained safe and unharmed until the corridor ended, and they were spat into a river within the whale.

Hermione spared a moment to wonder if they'd happened upon a vein or something akin to it before she realized Luffy had gone limp. She instinctively reached for him gripping him back as he'd done her. Hermione kicked her legs using the swimming lessons she'd received as a child, and experience gained when she'd been attempting to teach Holly swimming for their fourth year. Hermione was an experienced swimmer, but it seemed Luffy, for a pirate king, was not. He turned into a dead weight in her arms as she swam upward. Their roles were quickly reversed as she helped him free of the water.

Merlin! Had he been knocked out? He had been holding her, but it was possible he'd struck his head in the fall. She didn't know if a spell existed for a concussion.

"Luffy! Are you alright?" she asked as she breached the surface with a gasp. She dragged his head out of the water and saw he was conscious but looked positively sick. "Don't worry, I've got you." She pulled him toward the river's metal platforms to escape the water, never questioning why she'd been forced to swim during her fourth year when she hadn't been Holly's chosen person. Instead, she pulled her new companion from the water, watching as he instantly perked up.

"Whoo! Thanks, Hermy-ony! You saved me!"

Maybe he couldn't swim? What a contradiction to his chosen dream. And ah, what was that butchered attempt at her name? Surely it couldn't be that difficult to say.

"Ah! We're sliding." Luffy grabbed her suddenly as the whale turned again, and the 'floor' became the 'walls' once more. Though this time it was slightly different, this time she had her feet under her and Luffy's hand in her own. The pair of them were forced to sprint downhill with no ability to stop. Not even as an enormous wall appeared and two figures appeared by a large metal door.

"STOP US!" Luffy cried.

"Wand! Where's my wand!" Hermione screamed beside him.

Then they struck. Hermione crashed headlong into a woman with vibrant blue hair and Luffy into an odd-looking man with swirls under his eyes. She felt small arms reach up automatically, grabbing at her as the door opened, and they were sent careening into the open air. Hermione screamed, eyes wide as she caught a pair of brown ones. And the world-

Sort of-

Stopped.

* * *

_"What's a soulmate?"_

Nefertari Vivi remembered the first time she was instructed on how to use her soulmate page. She had been five years old and seated before her father, who intended to give her this lesson personally. Even years later, Vivi remembered his every word as he told her about her mother, about his soulmate. As he told Vivi story that created her, which she clung to in the dark after her mother was gone.

_"They'll be your best friend, the one person who makes you better… who you want to be better for. She was all that to me, and I hope, I hope so dearly that one day… one day you'll find the same."_

Vivi was a princess, but she was also kind, and Vivi had never shied away from helping. Vivi slid through her childhood, assisting any who asked, she offered kind words, donated if she had the money for it, she helped and gained good karma for it all. She did this freely, she did it because she enjoyed it, and not just because good karma would give her points to find her soulmate.

Koza had, on occasion, dared her to buy hints, dared her to spend what she'd earned. Never confession that deep down that he wondered if… thought that just maybe they were meant to be. He hadn't told her he nudged her so firmly to spend her points on hints was because he had so few to his name. Not that he judged her for that, not like others had. They whispered it harshly as she passed, and Vivi hadn't gone long before she overheard their harsh words. 'The benefit of being a princess the opportunities that no common man would have.' 'Obviously, Vivi was better off in all ways because of her high birth.' Those words, those thoughts burned more than she could describe. Those words caused her to stop looking at her points page for months before her father and Koza snapped her out of it. Her high birth helped, but she did not abuse it, she helped because she was kind and not out of a common desire to find her one.

Secretly Vivi wasn't entirely sure if that was true or not; she wasn't sure if she'd ever find out either, not unless she found her one.

So she followed Koza's prompts and tried to do her best as a princess to her people. She healed what she could, and gained her own hints to find that person that would make her better.

'Magic.' 'Frizz.' 'A raven in lion's clothes.' 'An adventure.' 'Pirate.' 'Another world.'

That hint… that hint had been a blow Vivi couldn't describe.

The jealous told her she had advantages being she was a princess. That she could find her soulmate and get points so much faster because she was noble and had more opportunities than the common man. They had no idea she had a soulmate she could never touch. A person eternally out of her reach all because of her birth. She was a princess, she belonged to the people and could not leave them to find her one, no matter how much she secretly desired to do so.

Father held her when she cried that night, he attempted to soothe the pain and loss. Told her to have hope.

_"You may not be able to reach him, but if he is meant for you… then one day, he will find you."_

A hope that temporary soothed the ache, it was possible. She held out hope and waited because that was all she could do. She healed what she could and bought no more hints. She waited.

And then came Crocodile, Baroque works, and the drought.

She abandoned her crown to save her people, played her part to find the truth. She slipped out in the dark and did such cruel things, sacrificing everything she could to protect, help, and heal. And then a woman crashed face-first into Vivi. Frizzy hair that defied all reason, sticking up in every direction and tangling with everything it touched. Wide brown eyes matching Vivi's own. Small hands that snatched hold of Vivi's clothing trying to slow their descent as they fell into the unknown.

Vivi knew it in an instant. She'd never even thought- never imagined her soulmate would be a woman, but that didn't erase the fact that she was. Her soulmate had come for her after all that waiting. She'd passed from an entirely different world and had come crashing literally into Vivi's life, and it couldn't possibly have been at the worst time. Vivi was in disguise trying to save her home and people, she had a part to play, an act to finish.

This was the worst possible timing.

The hope in Vivi's chest shriveled and died. She would have to deny her soulmate. Would have to continue her act at the cost of the one person who'd ever match her. She would have to make this woman hate her to protect her from Crocodile's reach. And even if her soulmate stayed, even if she saw through Vivi's act… they couldn't be genuinely together. Because… because she was a woman, and Vivi, therefore, couldn't bare an heir for the kingdom.

The universe was cruel.

And together, they crashed into the stomach acid below separated brutally by the fall.

* * *

Hermione felt her skin burn as she hit the water below and made the correct assumption that it was stomach acid and not water, which she had been dumped into. That realized, she rushed to escape the liquid lest she become whale food.

Glancing around, she spotted a nearby ship, Luffy's, and kicked toward it. She swam through the liquid pushing her body to move quickly while keeping an out for both Luffy and that woman. Hermione caught sight of the former immediately, Luffy's green-haired crewman had already grabbed him. While the strange man and Hermione's soulmate were also making their way toward 'land.' Hermione shot a look toward her blue-haired soulmate, for it had to be her. How common was blue hair like that anyway? Though perhaps not, Hermione did not see any signs of the woman being a princess, which had been Hermione's other large hint. Not to mention this certainly wasn't a vast desert as a smaller hint had expressed.

On the other hand, Hermione had never experienced such a world stopping moment when she'd looked into the woman's eyes. Not to mention, Hermione couldn't deny that she was attracted to that woman like she had no other. Men and women had always been much the same to Hermione as she'd come into her own. Some had caught her fancy, Viktor most obviously, as well as Holly for a short period. But no one caught her like the woman had.

Still, she could be wrong. It could be a coincidence, they existed, and Hermione was trying to keep an open mind. After all, she hadn't exactly gotten the best look given the circumstance.

A hand snaked off the ship and snatched hold of Hermione's shirt. Her eyes boggled as she caught the length of the arm and once again corrected her internal assumptions that Luffy was a mere Muggle. Clearly, magic was possible in this world for how else would that have been possible. With a snap, the arm holding her went taut, and Hermione was being wrenched free of the stomach acid and dropped on the deck of Luffy's ship.

Shaking herself, Hermione pulled out her wand no longer concerned about using magic publicly, and no wonder Luffy wasn't affected by the fall through the whale. What was his body, rubber? Hm, it did have the texture of it.

Wand out, she flicked it and dried her body in a flash before the stomach acid ruined her clothes.

"Well, that was fun." She said just as her potential soulmate and the other man were dropped onto the deck just like she'd been. The woman purposely didn't look Hermione's way, so perhaps she truly was wrong in her assumption. Hermione had to assume her princess soulmate had the points to buy hints, especially since she'd frequently repaired Hermione's various wounds over the years. So the woman who was Hermione's must have some idea of what Hermione looked or acted like, and this woman wasn't giving Hermione a second look, then perhaps it was because she wasn't her soulmate.

Oddly the idea hurt more than Hermione expected.

"Who are you people?" the woman with orange hair asked, and Hermione focused on her specifically. The blue-haired woman might not be Hermione's but this oranged haired woman might very well be Holly' recalled every one of Holly's hints and found this woman matched many of them, female for a start, but also tattooed on the correct arm. Still, Hermione elected to observe only. She'd already been wrong once before, and 'another world' could mean any of countless.

"-TO BLAST A HOLE IN IT'S STOMACH!"

Hermione snapped back to attention as the woman, and her companion abruptly fired canons at the whale's insides. Hermione pinched her lips together at the sight because that was moronic! They were inside the damned thing for goodness sake! Lifting her wand in a flash, Hermione swiftly cast a spell to prevent chaos. "Protago!"

A shield formed between the old man in the distance who bodily threw himself between the whale and the cannonballs. Clearly, he was more intelligent than the pair but still stupid because such an attack would have killed him! Thankfully for his life, Hermione's spell protected him and the whale both.

"Wingardium leviosa!" she then cast catching the man before he was dumped into the stomach acid. Concentrated as she was, she missed the horrified realization in the woman near her and the grim acceptance of the truth she quickly smothered.

"Go 'hermyony!" Luffy called happily even as the moronic due attempted to shoot more cannonballs at the whale. Luffy put a sudden stop to that thankfully. And Hermione set the old man on the deck with her.

Soon after the moronic due were tied up, the woman oddly never once looking at her. Hermione was formally introduced to the crew in full and them to her. While Crocus - the old man - told them a brief story about the whale, Laboon, and the crew that left him to sail the seas. It was honorable, Hermione decided, to leave the baby whale somewhere safe, so he wasn't hurt on the assumed dangerous voyage.

"Point me: Laboon's crew." Hermione muttered under her breath as she heard the tale. It hurt her to hear, about the crew Sanji assumed to be dead, the man that remained for so long to protect the whale, and about Laboon that cried every day because of the people who would never return. In her hand Hermione's wand spun, and spun, and spun. "That's… interesting." She mused going unnoticed except for the woman who gave her a curious look before swiftly looking away before she caught Hermione's eye.

"Well, they could be lost." Hermione spoke up to the group while showing off her endlessly spinning wand, "if they didn't exist or were dead, my wand wouldn't have moved at all; instead, it seems… confused."

"What?" the crew deadpanned collectively, and Hermione was forced to correct her assumptions again. Perhaps she ought to stop making assumptions.

In great detail, Hermione explained to Luffy's crew, the nameless pair, and Crocus what she was and how she'd come to be there. She saw little harm in them knowing full details, and perhaps it would give a hint to the blue-haired woman if they were matched.

"I'm from another world-" the woman flinched, and Hermione frowned deeply at her, wondering over the reaction "-and I'm a witch. I'm was born with an energy that I can bend to my will and create impossible feats with. Anything you can imagine I can do with minor limitations and enough time to figure it out."

The crew stared at her with utter awe in their eyes, among other things. Nami appeared to have more greed in her gaze than wonder, but she was a pirate. The others looked simply curious or excited in Luffy's case. Better than Hermione expected from Muggles anyway. "I came in search of my soulmate, myself, and my dearest friend left our world to find out other halves." She glanced at the blue-haired woman again, but she was looking away once more.

"The spell I just used is called a point-me, which as long as it exists in some capacity and isn't shielded should have pointed to what I asked for, in this case, Laboon's crew. It points, so it exists. But the wand won't settle, which means I cannot gain the location. Likely meaning it's shielded." And it was curious that something that could shield against magic existed in this world.

"Hm, a compass then. Magical in nature, but a compass… no surprise, it won't work."

To that, everyone looked to Crocus, Nami was the first to ask his meaning.

"What do you mean by that?" she pulled a compass from her pockets, which spun as Hermione's wand had.

And she screamed.

* * *

Holly and Nojiko sat in the distance, attempting to give Sirius some privacy as he walked up the hill toward Bell-mère grave. Side-by-side, and standing closer to Nojiko's home, Holly and Nojiko watched. Both of them waited until Sirius was out of hearing range before speaking, Nojiko beginning first as she said: "Do you know there a legend in our world."

Nojiko glanced at the black-haired girl by her side, the girl who could have been her sister in another life. Younger as Nami was. Nojiko regretted that she knew nothing about the teenager, but was relieved that Holly had not suffered what Nami and the village had. Little did she know what Holly had faced instead.

"About?" Holly asked as Sirius collapsed in the dirt beside the grave. At the grave of the woman that should have been his. At the resting place of the woman who never would because of the cruelty of monsters.

"It says those that lose each other still have a chance." Nojiko watched as Sirius reached forward, hand ghosting toward the headstone, then she confessed her truth: "I… I'm frightened to have hope in that legend, now that it's suddenly so close."

"How does that work?" Holly and Nojiko could not look away from Sirius as she asked her question.

"Apparently, it has something to do with untimely deaths and the god's kindness. Supposedly if you earn enough good karma, then the gods offer you a chance at happiness, at heaven on earth or so they say." Nojiko gave Holly a side-long look, "It comes from a legend of a hero in ancient times… a story for children really. The story is of a knight who saved the world by defeating a great enemy. Who in the process lost the love of his life. The other half of his soul. The gods, in thanks for his acts, offered him the option to return her to life and brought them together once more."

Holly couldn't bare to look at Nojiko as she spoke of an entirely different story: "That's… kinder than the tale we have we have. Our children's stories speak about three brothers who tried to defy Death. One attempted to bring his love back with a stone he tricked out of Death's hands. But the tale ends with both of their deaths because she was never truly alive, and he couldn't bare to be parted from her."

"Morbid…"

"I like your story better too." Holly forced a small laugh trying not to think about the fact that Sirius had helped her save the world.

Knelt in the dirt, Sirius came to a realization. He would never meet his soulmate. He… he hadn't realized he'd never accepted that fact. He'd thought he'd adjusted to it, but facing her grave, he realized the truth. He hadn't.

Sirius had not moved on from that moment. He could still- it felt like he was still there.

The timer ticked down in front of his face, his feet dug into the stone as he screamed himself hoarse for the guards. Dementors, four of them to start but more coming every second, swirled over him like a pack of wolves. He was screaming in denial and panic as their clawed hands cut through his numbers. They dragged at the words only he should be able to see, pulling points from his total in great bloody chunks. Greedily they inhaled, his soul brutally protested, and in the distance, a woman was screaming-

He heard James and Lily's voices blaming him for their deaths and everything their daughter suffered as a result. He heard Pettigrew taunting him. Remus snarling, biting, cursing. Voldemort's laughter and Crouch sentencing him to Azkaban without a trial.

He beat at the button that would revive his soulmate, but his hand went straight through it, and his palm met the dementor's claws. Touching them shot ice into his very soul. It froze him solid, and he knew without a doubt that there was absolutely nothing he could do.

_You'll die._

_She's dead._

_James hates you. Lily cursed you as she died._

_Holly will suffer every day of her existence._

_Voldemort will win_

_AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT-_

Sirius screamed as the dementor batted his hand away and snatched the glittering letters from his vision. Pulled them away- stole them!

**[Zero]**

She was dead.

That was the day he'd genuinely gone insane. The day he'd truly given up hope, that was the day his focus slid entirely toward revenge, even to the point that he forgot Holly needed him.

Knelt before her grave, Sirius could still feel the cold in his soul and the dementors swirling around him laughing as they dragged on his points. The short respite from traveling worlds was gone, and it left him colder than ever. He could picture it, a woman with wine hair splayed out on the ground as two children wept over her body. As a man more shark than human counted down and laughed as the timer finally ended. As he taunted the children with the knowledge that their mother's soulmate hadn't loved her enough to save her.

Bell-mère. Sirius' soulmate had been doomed regardless of the dementors' touch. He couldn't have revived her even if he tried, she would have died again even if he had the points to revive.

Sirius dug his hands into the dirt. He'd never touch her, never love her, never grow old with her. Her dislikes and likes, her quirks, none of it would be his to know. He knew it. But… he'd still thought, maybe. But no, Sirius had no hope.

The universe was cruel.

He swiped at his eyes hand, reaching out for her name, the other sank into the earth as if he could touch her. Then he whispered his truth: "I would have given you everything. Anything you desired… I would have found a way to get it to you… our wedding, I would have pulled out all the stops." tears struck the dirt. "Lily would have been so jealous that we'd have outshone them… but she'd be happy because Holly would have a little brother or sister to call her own. We'd have raised them together, in this world, or mine, as long as we were happy… and I'd have taught them magic." He bowed his head: "Everything I'd do… every point I got, it would have been yours."

Shakily he pulled his hand from her headstone and did what he hadn't since her death. He opened his point page. "I helped save the world you know… I would have enough to give you anything you… wanted…" he trailed off as he saw it. An option was lit up-

He couldn't breathe.

**[Revive?]**

That wasn't possible- that wasn't- How?

Sirius reached up and tapped the option and saw it was real. He… it really was there. His hands were shaking, shaking more than they ever had before, as he reached up, as he pressed the glowing white 'Y' before his eyes and- his points dropped to nothing. He'd given them all up in an instant just as he'd promised.

And the ground under him started to shake.

Sirius staggered backward as Holly yelled his name. The girls rushed forward as the headstone split, and a godly light blinded them all. Sirius covered his eyes, seeing it even behind his eyelids. He heard Holly and Nojiko yell in confusion and alarm. When the light vanished as abruptly as it had appeared. The moment it was safe, he wrenched his eyes open and saw her.

She lay limp on the dirt, dark red hair splayed out, and clothes long deteriorated. But as Sirius watched, her chest rose and fell with breath. She was alive. His soulmate was-

"Merlin's balls!" Holly exclaimed from behind him.

"Mom!?" and Nojiko's was second behind, voice fragile with hope.

She was alive.

The universe was cruel, but they were meant to be.

"Circe… _thank you."_


End file.
